Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake Recipe (2024)

Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake – Layered Chocolate Poppyseed Cake, Crunchy Hazelnut Meringue and luxuriously creamy Nutella Custard Buttercream will have your guests swoon from this deliciousness! Step by Step pictures are included for guaranteed success!

A few weeks ago we celebrated my dad’s birthday, so for this occasion I decided to make a cake that will have all the things my dad loves – chocolate, nuts, poppy seeds, dulce de leche and even though Nutella isn’t on his named list, who in the world doesn’t like Nutella, right? This cake was a raving success and I am jumping in excitement (on the inside guys, on the inside) as I share thisHazelnut Meringue Nutella Cakerecipe with you all!

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how well everything would work together since this cake was just something I put together hoping that it would work. But, when we cut the cake, the inside of the cake looked incredible, as you can see from the picture inside!

Then as everyone started tasting it their eyes got wide open, because the cake was so, so good! Of course, I was on heaven 7 from excitement that, my little experiment had worked! Even though we just had a good dinner, almost everyone asked for a second slice. I haven’t had this kind of success in a while! Check this out!

The flavors:

The flavors are a combination of chocolate and Nutella, with textural contrasts of tiny pops from the poppy seeds in the chocolate sponge cake as well as large nutty hazelnuts pieces in the crispy meringue layers. As the meringue dissolves from crunchy to melt in your mouth sweetness your tongue gets hit with the roasted hazelnut flavor from the chunks or hazelnut in the meringue.

The creaminess of the custard, buttercream and Nutella just help to bring all the crunch of the meringue, nuts and the chocolate cake with creamy, sweetness into one bite of perfection.

The raspberries on top add a flavor contrast by adding the pop of tartness to otherwise overall mellow cake.
If the description made your mouth water, this Hazelnut Meringue cake is for you!

Tips for success:

The cake has quite a few moving pieces so make sure to read through the info below for best chance at perfect outcome.

• Grease free tools – make sure to use thoroughly cleaned mixer and whip when whipping egg whites. Any trace of grease (or egg yolk) will hinder the whipping of the meringue to proper volume and texture.
• Roast the hazelnuts – I know this might seem like an unnecessary step if you haven’t work with nuts, but roasting the nuts brings out the flavor and makes it more pronounced. Do not skip this step.
• Ingredient temperature – when making the Nutella custard buttercream make sure all the ingredients are same temperature at the last step when you’re whipping the cooled custard, room temperature butter and room temperature Nutella. Otherwise, you might end up with soupy, curdled mess.
• Whip it – make sure to whip the eggs for the sponge cake long enough to proper consistency described in the recipe. Whipping the eggs adds aeration to the end product. Whipping until the whipped eggs and sugar form a ribbon that doesn’t disappear for a second or two will make the sponge cake perfectly fluffy instead of dense.
• Cover it – after you assemble the cake cover the cake with a cake dome to prevent the edges from drying out. My cake dome is 11-12 inches in diameter and 10+ inches tall. You can get a similar one on Amazon.

Yield: One 9″ round cake, 8 -12 servings

Hazelnut Meringue Ingredients:

• egg whites
• granulated sugar
• lightly roasted hazelnuts (or any other nut), roughly chopped – roasting brings out their flavor, so don’t skip this step.
• lightly roasted hazelnuts, chopped – if you would like to sprinkle some on top ofthe meringue disks.

How to make the Hazelnut Meringue:

Prepare the Hazelnut Meringue Disks following the recipe HERE.

Nutella Custard Buttercream Ingredients:

• egg yolks
• sugar
• salt
• vanilla extract
• all-purpose flour
• milk, boiling hot
• Nutella spread
• butter

How to make the Nutella Custard Buttercream:

Follow the recipe HERE to make the buttercream.

Chocolate Poppy Seed Cake Ingredients:

• eggs
• granulated sugar
• all-purpose flour
• cocoa powder
• dry poppy seeds
• baking powder
• melted butter

Make the Chocolate Poppy Seed Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350F with the rack in the middle. Line a 9 -nch baking pan with parchment paper. Or line with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Fasten a wet cake strip around the baking pan.
  Whip 4 eggs and 3/4 cups sugar with a stand mixer for 15 minutes, or until the ribbon of dough flowing from the whisk doesn’t disappear for a couple of seconds.

• Add sifted 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder in halves, folding carefully after each. Don’t worry if the flour is not fully incorporated at this point.

• Add 2 tablespoons of melted butter and fold several times to incorporate slightly.
  Now add the 1/4 cup dry poppy seeds and fold until just incorporated.

• Pour into a parchment-lined 9-inch cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes at 350F. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to check for doneness, it should come out clean with no crumbs or wet dough.Remove the pan to a cooling rack and cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan. Then run a knife on the inside of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan and invert the cake onto the cooling rack, to cool completely.

Make the soaking syrup:

• Mix the following ingredients together in a cup or a squeeze bottle:1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp Liqueur (I used Amaretto di Amore), 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract.

How to assemble Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake:

• Remove the parchment paper from the cake.
  Cut the cake in two even layers horizontally using a long serrated knife.

• Place the meringue disk on top of the cake layers and trim the chocolate cake layers so they are all the same size if needed.
  Reserve 1 cup of frosting and set it aside (this will be used for decorating. Put a dab of frosting onto the serving plate/board.

• Top with an upside-down top layer of the split cake. Drizzle with half the soaking mixture. Put 1/3 of the frosting on top and spread evenly. Add the first meringue disk, putting it upside down. Press gently to adhere.

• Add 1/3 more of the frosting, and spread into an even layer; add the second meringue disk bottom side up; top with the last 1/3 frosting; put the last chocolate poppy seed layer bottom side up; drizzle with the remainder of the soaking syrup.

• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium french star tip (Ateco 869) and pipe the frosting in dots, making three circles going from the outside in. Squeeze whatever is left out in the bag and spread in the middle. Top the middle with about 2 cups of fresh raspberries.

• Add some hazelnut halves to the top of the piped frosting if you wish.
  Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. Best eaten within 12-24 hours of assembly.