Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake

THIS RECIPE FROM   THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS

PREP TIME:

20 Minutes

DIFFICULTY:

Easy

COOK TIME:

18 Minutes

SERVINGS:

12 Servings

If you just stick to the 2-layer version below, all will be right with the world.

Place 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Let it melt…

Then add 4 tablespoons cocoa powder…

And stir it together until smooth.

Add 1 cup of boiling water, let it bubble up for 30 seconds or so, then remove from heat.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Pour in the chocolate mixture and stir it until it’s about halfway combined.

Mix together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda until it’s smooth…

Then mix it into the chocolate/flour mixture until it all comes together. This is the basic chocolate sheet cake recipe I’ve been using for years, the one my mother-in-law handed to me with a wink and a nod when I became engaged to her son. It’s the best all-purpose chocolate cake in the Milky Way galaxy.

Line 2 9-inch round cake pans with a round of parchment paper…

Then spray the parchment with nonstick baking spray.

Pour the batter evenly into the pans…

And bake them for 18 to 20 minutes, or until no longer jiggly in the center.

Turn the cakes out of the pans…

Carefully peel off the parchment, and set them aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the toppings: Hull and slice the strawberries…

Then sprinkle on the sugar…

Add the vanilla…

And stir them around.

Let them sit and macerate for 15 minutes…

Then drain off the excess juices.

Whip the heavy cream with the sugar until stiff. Now it’s time to assemble the cake!

Place one cake layer upside down on a cake stand so that the top will be perfectly flat.

Grab 3/4 cup of Nutella…

And spread it into a single layer.

Plop half the whipped cream over the top…

And spread it into a single layer.

Then sprinkle on half the strawberries.

Place the other cake layer upside down on top of the berries…

(And by the way, it appears in some of these photos that the cake is burned, but it definitely isn’t. It’s just my subpar photography skills.)

(Amen.)

Then add another layer of Nutella…

The rest of the whipped cream…

And the rest of the strawberries.

Yummy!

Use a serrated knife to cut slices and serve ‘em up! This is crazy good, man.

Variation
Halve all the quantities to make a 1-layer cake if you’d like something a little smaller.
Double all the quantities to make a 4-layer cake if you’d like to make an impression! (Cautionary Tale: See photo near the top of this post.)
Substitute blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries (or a combination thereof) for the strawberries.