Chocolate Cake with Nutella Icing

We celebrated my brother-in-law’s birthday this weekend. Anyone who knows him would know that he’s the world’s biggest chocoholic. So what better way to celebrate than with a rich, dark chocolate cake?

I’ve made a few tweaks to the original recipe.

You’ll need (cake):

• 200g Nestle Melts – Dark (melted and allow to cool slightly – follow directions on packet to melt)
• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 shot glass coffee liqueur (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups plain flour + 3  3/4 spoons baking powder (or 1 3/4 cups self raising flour)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup milk

You’ll need (icing):

• 50 grams Nestle Melts – Dark
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a round cake tin.  Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together.
Beat butter, sugar, coffee liqueur and vanilla essence until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add cooled chocolate. Mix well.

Add flour and cocoa in parts to mixer, alternating with milk. Keep mixing until it turns into a smooth creamy batter.

Pour into cake tin, smooth out and bake for about 10 minutes. Once a crust is formed, quickly open oven and place a piece of aluminium loosely over the cake. Continue cooking for about 50 minutes. Check cake with a skewer poked into the centre. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Allow cake to cool in the tin and then remove from tin and allow to cool completely before icing.

For the icing:
Melt dark chocolate and Nutella together and stir well. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. It should thicken as it cools. Spread icing evenly over cold cake. Enjoy!

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