Nutella Bundt Cake

Nutella Bundt Cake - made November 5, 2017 from Chef in Training

You know I'm a snob about boxed cake mixes. As in, I don't really believe in them. Homemade from scratch always tastes better to me. But when I do use them, it's because the picture someone made using the box mix as a base is so compelling that I have to try it. As long as they add other ingredients to the mix other than actually using it as is, my baking snobbery can deal. Barely.

Such is the case with this Nutella Bundt Cake from Chef in Training. I needed something quick and easy to make for work for my usual Monday morning offering to the communal kitchen but not a lot of time to make something since I was also working weekends. Like working in the office, not just logging in from home. So something easy was needed.

This fit the bill. I made it even easier by not making the frosting recipe listed below and instead covered the whole cake with Nutella. Yeah, I cheated but it had been a long day, k? Besides, nothing makes a Nutella Bundt cake more Nutella-y than actual Nutella covering the whole thing, amIright?? I did add chopped toasted hazelnuts to signal the cake had nuts in the form of Nutella in case anyone had any nut allergies and might think this was a plain non-nutty chocolate cake. Nope.

While I don't like nuts in cakes, I'm more open-minded about putting them outside of the cake, sitting there bold as brass on frosting. The toasted hazelnuts added a nice crunch perched atop the Nutella cloaking the cake. The cake itself doesn't have a strong Nutella flavor. Truth be told, it tasted like a normal chocolate cake. So if you do want to punch up the nutella flavor, be generous with the nutella in the frosting itself or do what I did and simply blanket it with Nutella. You can't go wrong.

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 3.9-ounce box chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Nutella
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Nutella
chopped, toasted hazelnuts for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and flour Bundt pan.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat for 3 minutes on high speed. Pour into prepared pan. 
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Make frosting: in medium bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and Nutella. Beat on high speed until creamy.
5. Scrape frosting into piping bag fitted with round plain tip and pipe frosting over the cake. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts for garnish.