Birthday Cake # 2: Nutella Flour-less Cake with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

The second cake I made for my birthday week was indeed my favorite one.  It was easy, delicious and I just loved it!  I used a whole container of Nutella so of course it had to be fabulous! 

Have you ever tried Nutella?  It's like heaven in a bottle!  It's my newest best friend I tell you! ~

Enough with the talk now - let's get straight to the recipe.  And I have step by step photos of how I put it all together too.  Lucky you and lucky me for it turning out so delicious!




Nutella Flour-less Cake

(Serves 8 - 10 but only if you feel like sharing!)

1 container (13 oz.) of Nutella - which you can find in the Peanut Butter section of the grocery store
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
1 stick of butter (I used Smart Balance)
6 large eggs, separated into the yolks and whites
12 oz bag of chocolate chips, melted (I used dark chocolate)
1 and 1/3 cup of almonds, chopped into small bits (If you can find hazelnuts, then use those.  I couldn't)


For the Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz of cream cheese (I used the 1/3 reduced fat kind)
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch round spring-form pan with cooking spray.  Set aside. 

Now grab two bowls and separate out your six eggs - with the yolks in one bowl and just the whites in the other bowl. 



This is the most tedious part of making this entire cake but still easy and quick if you have the right tool for this.  I love my egg separator.





In a large mixing bowl, combine the whole container of Nutella, brown sugar and stick of butter together.  Blend until almost smooth. 

Using a separate heat-proof bowl, melt the chocolate chips.  I use my microwave for this, heating them for about a minute; then stirring them smooth.  I microwave it a bit longer if needed.  Set this aside until you're ready to use them.

Add the egg yolks to the cake batter in the mixing bowl slowly, one at a time if possible.  Beat until incorporated.  Now spoon in the melted chocolate.  Beat until smooth.  Then add in the egg whites and the chopped almonds (or other nut of your choice).  You can simply stir those in together with a large wooden spoon. 



Transfer the batter to the greased 9-inch spring-form pan.  Shake it or smooth it down with a spoon if needed.  Mine looked like this:




Then bake it at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes in the oven.  The edges should pull away from the sides just a bit.  You should be able to insert a knife inside and have it come out mostly clean so the cake isn't wet. 

It will look like a giant brownie.  And it will taste like one too....  Yummy!



While your kitchen is smelling so wonderful and your cake is cooling, you can make the frosting.  The frosting is simply amazing, probably the best I've ever eaten in my life.  I think I will make it for all future cakes.  Oh yeah, it's that good!

To make the frosting:
Grab a medium size mixing bowl.  In it place your 8 oz of cream cheese, 2 Tbsp of butter, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and 4 Tbsp of Nutella.  Then just blend with a mixer until smooth, until it looks like this:



When that cake has cooled (and trust me, I know it's hard to wait), you can use that handy spring-form feature to transfer it into a cake-storage container so you can seal it up for freshness.  I love those spring-form pans - one of the best inventions ever!   But you should wait about an hour until it's very cooled.  Once it's cooled, spread this delectable frosting all over your cake.  Try not to lick the entire bowl before you can do so.  It's very hard to resist! 

Frost your cake, slice it up and if you feel like it, share it with a few friends or your family.  They will LOVE it!  Trust me! 





This is definitely the BEST cake I've ever made and my current, new favorite too!  I've got one more birthday cake recipe to share with you.  So come back in a few days to see that one.  I may have to include a slide show of photos from the disaster it took to put it all together!  You won't want to miss it, trust me!  It will surely give you something to laugh at - me!  :-)