World Nutella Day 2011: Nutella Spice Cake + What To Do With an Empty Nutella Jar
World Nutella Day
Happy 5th Anniversary, World Nutella Day!
This year’s celebration has been bigger and better than ever — and it’s only just begun. World Nutella Day is inching *ever* so close to 20,000 fans on Facebook, there are over 2,000 followers on Twitter, and the recipe posts have been pouring in for days now. You’re in for one heck of a roundup on Monday, so be sure to come back then — I’ll have half right here at Bleeding Espresso, and Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy will have the other half.
Sara whipped up a Flourless Nutella Chocolate Cake, and what did I make for this extra-special edition of World Nutella Day?
I’ve been curious about the cinnamon-Nutella combination for a while, so when I saw a Nutella Cinnamon Cake recipe at JamieOliver.com, I thought it’d give a whirl — with a Calabrese twist.
You see, this past weekend we were busy around here with our very first pig slaughter (post coming up, but no photos of the killing I promise), so that means I now have bags of finely ground peperoncino (chili pepper) in my kitchen. Why? Well because both peperoncino piccante (hot) and peperoncino dolce (sweet) are main ingredients in our salsiccia, supressata, guanciale, pancetta, carne salada, capocollo, and other pork products in Calabria.
And so, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought, why not spice up this cake even more — *and* bake it in a heart-shaped pan (thanks Mom!)?
I really like how this cake came out — just enough heat that you only feel it on your lips and in your mouth just as you’re finishing chewing, and it’s not overly sweet even with the Nutella. It reminded me a lot of a carrot cake, actually, but with a nice kick. The original recipe, by the way, puts hazelnuts on top of his, but (a) I didn’t have any; and (b) I’m not fond of nuts in my food, although I love nuts separately.
I don’t know how readily available sweet ground peperoncino is where you are, but to be honest, I’m not sure you need it. I added it because when I tasted the batter after only adding the hot pepper, it didn’t taste very sweet — you may be able to adjust with more sugar, or perhaps you don’t need any more sweetness at all for your taste. Feel free to play around and let me know what you come up with!
Nutella Spice Cake
(adapted from Nutella Cinnamon Cake at JamieOliver.com)
Nutella Spice Cake
- 175 g softened butter
- 175 g caster sugar (I used granulated; it was fine…hah!)
- 3 eggs
- 200 g self-rising flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder**
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsp ground peperoncino piccante
- 2 tsp ground peperoncino dolce
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 4 rounded tablespoons of Nutella
*I didn’t have self-rising flour, so I followed these instructions for making my own self-rising flour. It seemed to work.
**I used Italian baking powder that already had vanilla in it, so you might want to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make up for that flavor.
1. Preheat oven to “180C/gas 4/ fan 160C” according to the original recipe. I put it at 160 or so (hard to regulate my pathetic oven’s temp); that’s 325F. Grease and flour pan (20 cm/8 inch round) or loaf tin. Or heart-shaped pan like I used.
2. Put all the ingredients except the Nutella in a bowl and mix well either with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until the batter is “light and fluffy.”
3. Tip 3/4 of the batter into the baking pan and spread it level. Now plop in the four spoons of Nutella in four separate places.
4. Swirl the Nutella around a bit with a skewer and then top with the remaining batter and level it all out so the Nutella is covered. I then sprinkled some more hot pepper on top for some color.
5. Bake for about one hour “until risen and nicely brown” or until the top springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine only took about 45 minutes, so watch your cake to be sure. If it’s browning too quickly, cover it with foil.
6. Let cool in the baking vessel for at least 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan. Just before serving small pieces of the cake, I put some more Nutella on as icing. YUM.
Nutella Spice Cake with Nutella Icing
*
Ah, and since I promised to tell you what to do with an empty Nutella jar, let me share my method of not wasting one single morsel of the chocolate hazelnet goodness. Heat milk and pour it into the jar. Stir, shake (with lid on), do whatever you need to get as much of the Nutella into the milk as possible, and you have yourself a lovely Nutella hot chocolate (and a very easy to clean jar if you’re saving it).
Nutella hot chocolate
Buon World Nutella Day from *all* of us at Casa Fabio!
Remember, Monday is the big roundup, so be sure to come back for an amazing amount of Nutella fun!
33 Beans of Wisdom to “World Nutella Day 2011: Nutella Spice Cake + What To Do With an Empty Nutella Jar”
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ciao Laura, Michelle Fabio. Michelle Fabio said: Bleeding Espresso... topsy.com/bleedingespresso.com/2011/02/world-nutella-day-2011-nutella-spice-cake-what-to-do-with-an-empty-nutella-jar.html?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2
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[...] Did you know that yesterday was World Nutella Day? But it sure was! How about a Coconut and Nutella ... 101centavos.com/2011/02/06/a-storm-of-roundup-links-february-6th-2011
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[...] Nutella Spice Cake from Bleeding Espresso [...]... mccannsocialcentral.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/world-nutella-day-feb-5th
Recipes
Sounds delicious!!!
Love that idea for cleaning out the Nutella jar! Have to tell my sons.
Nutella AND cinnamon… two huge favorites! I posted a flavor combo too: nutella and coconut. I saved you and Sara a slice.
Happy World Nutella Day!!
Ciao
Ele xx
Yum….I can’t wait to see the round up on Monday!
Whoa! Great idea on the jar. I can’t decide which Nutella recipe to make for tomorrow, now. (Yes, I am taking Nutella goodness to a Super Bowl Party).
Heart shaped in time for Valentine’s Day! Looks wonderful.
The cake looks delicious and what a great idea for cleaning up the Nutella jar! Have a great Nutella Day!
Thank you for your visit in France on my blog 🙂
Miammy this cake seems!
Whoa – I went with cinnamon and peperoncino this year too! It became a favorite flavor combination last year in a drink and gelato (both also have rhum – go fingure) I think your ground & dolce peperoncino would have worked better for my cupcakes – wonder if I can find them here… Love this & happy World Nutella Day!
Love the idea of nutella and cinnamon. My oldest is doing a project on cinnamon for school and wants to bring in something. This may be the perfect item… if it gets to school!
One of the best “gifts” I got from a conference was the Nutella scraper that lifts off that extra bit of nutella from the bottom of the jar!
I can’t wait for the pig post! I remember staying at an agratourismo during the slaughter, it was amazing! They strung up the pig and used torches to get the hair off. Wow.
I promise to be a participant in 2012. Nutella scares me. I can’t stop if I start.
For now I am going to give Rosso’s cake a try. It keeps calling to me.
Happy World Nutella Day!
Hey, this year I see Nutella posts everywhere! Nutella and peperoncino, who would have thought…? But I can see it working.
I cleaned my bowls of chocolate after making truffle just like you cleaned your Nutella jar 🙂
Where might I find peperoncino piccante and dolce in the US? Is it just chili powder?
Ground red/hot/chili pepper will do for the piccante; I’m not sure if they sell dolce in the US or not, but as I said in the recipe, you may not need it, so feel free to play around and let me know what you think!
You had me at ‘nutella’! I absolutely adore the stuff and put it on almost everything!
Celebrating nutella is such a wonderful idea…I personally celebrate it everyday! 🙂
Ooh, that cake looks divine! Love the festive heart shaped pan. Thanks for all the Nutella goodness.
Yum. Must try that trick at the end with the Nutella jar. Actually, I think that drink would go perfectly with the cake 😉
Happy WND!
Excellent idea for not wasting any Nutella…love it! And the cake sounds scrumptious. Happy nutella day 🙂
Cinnamon, peperoncino and Nutella – like that combination and the cute heart shape. Happy 5th Nutella Day to you! Thanks for sponsoring this great day. I’m looking forward to Monday’s roundup.
Buon World Nutella Day Michelle. Your tweet inspired me and I HAD to do a Nutella post. Thank you & Sara for being such wonderful hosts! This cake sounds divine, and I love the ? shape. YAY!!
mmmmm! peperoncino, canella e nutella! 3 of my favourites all in one place. can’t wait to try it!
The cake looks awesome, Michelle! The heart-shaped pan is nice too…
I’ll have to run these recipes by my diabetes educator DIL?
I’ve seen this on so many blogs today! Who knew that everyone I read would be as in love with the chocolatey hazelnuty goodness as I am. I’m just lucky that–unlike peanut butter–nutella pretty much follows me everywhere I go in the world 😉
Michelle we have made my hot chocolate with Nutella. Now I want more because of you!
Hahaha glad you enjoyed it LuccaBella!
I LOVE Nutella! Mmmmmm!
well, this looks great! I LOVE spice cakes. Also, good idea with the almost empty jar 🙂
I needed the what to do with the empty nutella jar idea the other day! 🙂 Now I know and I will certainly try this next time instead of trying to lick every single morsel of nutella out of the jar! You cake looks so wonderful and I bet the balance of the sweet and hot pepper really makes it delicious. I don’t think we have that here in the States, but I will certainly look for it. I love the photo with the nutella melting on top of the cake. Mmmm…
You have got me on a nutella quest — starting with a homemade, lactose-free version that I can then use in all these lovely recipes….
Meanwhile, an ingredients question I hope you can clear up: when you say “peperocino”, what will that mean in a U.S. market? I appreciate your discussing the dolce above, but what would I get to, say, add to your meat sauce to get the desired level of heat vs. spice vs. fruitiness of different peppers? I usually just add a pinch of dried red pepper flakes to Italian tomato dishes (as opposed to fresh peppers in Mexican food) — what do you suggest? thanks!
I answered your other comment first, but I wanted to add here that regarding a ground meat sauce, I love the flavor of the fresh hot, green pepper in there — so maybe an early season cayenne (summer). Try it! Yum!
p.s. I did visit the Academy of peppers site, so now I see that the peperoncini (sorry, I keep misspelling!) is a single variety (I thought the name might refer to several Italian peppers). The site claims it is grown here in CA in addition to the Mediterranean, but I have still never seen it fresh. I don’t like the canned version because it always tastes like citric acid…so to return to my original question that should have been posted under a more appropriate recipe — what fresh hot pepper would you use in the U.S.?
Good questions, Michele. I definitely wouldn’t use the canned/jarred ones unless you’re making something like (Mexican) salsa maybe, and a lot of Italian-Americans I know like them on pizza. I found this info on Fresh Chile Peppers that gives some guidance — I’d say cayenne is probably closest. In fact, we grow a cayenne here (I sent away for seeds) that P really likes. If you can find those little round hot cherry peppers, they work well too. But for ground like in the cake recipe, chile powder should be fine — you just need the heat, not much flavor involved 🙂 I hope this helps!