What do you do when you get a phone call at 9.30pm from a friend asking you to make a birthday cake for her husband the next day? This was the case last weekend. I was more than happy to help until she added, "It must be chocolatey". The couple in question are Irelands biggest chocoholics. Panic set in when I realized that not only did I not have one bar of the brown stuff in the house, I had no cocoa, drinking chocolate, ice cream or one single chocolate biscuit. Shameful. Shopping was out of the question as (once again) the car is in Kildare Crash Repairs with a broken exhaust. Then, at the back of the larder I found it. The secret ingredient that would save the day. A 400g jar of Nutella.
Nutella cake is not a new idea. The wonderful chocolate hazelnut spread has been around for eighty years and I expect that people have been using in cakes for as long. The difference here is that rather than use it as a topping or filling, it is the main flavour of the sponge. Virtually a whole jar goes in to the cake mixture.
This Nutella Cake recipe is one that I found years ago in a magazine, I have tweaked it slightly. It is light, easy to make and delicious. The quantities here serve fifteen easily. I served it with a dollop of homemade raspberry jam and a cup of freshly brewed coffee and suggest you do the same.
Enjoy!
Nutella Cake
2 3/4 cups Self Raising Flour
1 cup butter (not straight from fridge, leave to soften for an hour)
2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs (medium sized)
1 cup Nutella
1 cup of milk
Method:
1. Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs (one at a time) followed by the Nutella.
3. Gradually add the dry ingredients and lastly the milk.
4. Spread the mixture into a greased and lined tin (I used a 20cm x 30cm brownie pan) and put into oven on middle shelf.
5. Bake at 160 for 45 - 50 minutes. This is the best bit. Your kitchen will be filled with the aroma of Nutella. The cake is cooked when a skewer comes out clean.
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