Hazelnut Latte Cake; fluffy hazelnut coffee flavoured cakes, slathered with whipped Nutella coffee buttercream frosting and topped with toasted hazelnuts and lashings of melted Nutella!
Can we just take a minute to acknowledge that we’re like a third of the way through 2017 ALREADY?? Crazy.
In the next few weeks, I’ll be sitting the last exams of my course and I’ll be graduating from Aberdeen University with a law degree…and then of course come the months of job-hunting and existential crisis, but we’ll worry about that when it comes. I swear I was 16 years old just a minute ago, where does the time go?
Speaking of time, it’s about TIME that I got around to talking about this cake! See what I did there? Boo, I know.
This Hazelnut Latte Cake is everything you could ever want, if you love a cup of coffee, and you love spreading obnoxious amounts of Nutella on your toast/pancakes/face. If you’ve ever ordered and thoroughly enjoyed a Hazelnut Latte from Starbucks or any other coffee shop, you’re 100% going to love this cake. Basically, it’s great.
Soft, moist cake full of gentle milky coffee and toasty hazelnut flavour, slathered with fluffy whipped coffee-hazelnut frosting and topped off with copious sprinkles and drizzles of chopped hazelnuts and melted Nutella. Nothing too sweet, nothing too strong, just a wonderfully soft and mellow mix of delicious flavours. You’re going to need a big slice, a spoon, and a whole lot of free space in your heart, because this cake is damn delicious.
“Oh mumma, hat dangity dang!” is a direct quote of a friend at work who devoured a slice of this Hazelnut Latte Cake despite being one of those untrustworthy people who isn’t really into desserts. Yeah, I know, weird. I’ll still take that response as positive though.
Obviously, if you’re REALLY into coffee or REALLY into hazelnut/Nutella flavour, then feel free to add more to the recipe than I have. I was just trying to achieve the right balance between both so as not to piss off the die-hard cake devourers that are my workmates. You do you, honey.
As always, this cake isn’t complicated and doesn’t require fiddly cake decoration skills, just a little bit of your time. Trust me, in making this Hazelnut Latte Cake, that time will be well spent!
Some of the ingredients you may not have in your cupboards, these will direct you to them though! I highly recommend keeping a bottle of Frangelico hazelnut liqueur or Monin Hazelnut Syrup, they are absolutely delicious and add great flavour to bakes or hot/cold drinks!
To make this cake, start by preheating your oven and greasing and lining two 20-25cm (6-8 inch) sandwich cake tins.
Place some butter and sugar, either white or brown, into a large bowl and beat with a mixer or with a big spoon/spatula until light and fluffy.
Add 3 eggs one at a time, beating between each addition until fully combined. Don’t worry if it looks a little curdled, once you add the flour it will be fine, I promise!
Sift your flour and into the bowl along with some hazelnut liqueur/syrup and the strong coffee/espresso and mix gently until everything is smooth and combined.
Scoop all the batter into the two prepared cake tins and smooth out the top as best you can.
Bake the cakes in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until they are firm and a skewer inserted into the centre can be pulled out cleanly.
Allow the cakes to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing them from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the Hazelnut Latte buttercream frosting!
Beat together some butter, sugar, Nutella, hazelnut liqueur/syrup and strong coffee.
Beat again vigorously until it looks light and paler in colour, this is easiest with a stand mixer or an electric whisk, but you can manage it by hand too! At this stage, feel free to taste it and add more sugar, coffee or Nutella if you like!
Once the cake is completely cool and your frosting is ready, slather the top of one sponge with it.
Sandwich it with the other sponge.
Spread the top sponge with more frosting, pushing it down the edges.
Smooth the edges out roughly with a knife or palette knife, this is known as the crumb-coat. You can chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes or so at this stage to help firm up the frosting for a completely smooth result, I’m usually too lazy for this though!
Add another few blobs of frosting round the sides and the top of the cake, smoothing it out as best you can until you have no frosting left. (If you do have extra, feel free to pipe little stars or blobs around the top like I have!)
Chop up some hazelnuts (if using) and sprinkle them over the top of the cake.
Gently melt a few big spoons of Nutella in the microwave for 40-60 seconds, then use a spoon or knife to drizzle it all over the top and/or sides of your cake, the messier the better! Or just decorate however you like!
Now the best part, all that’s left is to just just slice up this amazing Hazelnut Latte Cake, serve and enjoy! (Unless you don’t like coffee, or Nutella, or cake, or you don’t have a soul…)
If you enjoyed this Hazelnut Latte Cake, why not try out this popular Vanilla Latte Cake recipe sometime?
Thank you, as always, for being here! Remember to follow me on social media or subscribe to me on YouTube if you like. See you soon for more yummy things!
Hazelnut Latte Cake
Hazelnut Latte Cake; fluffy hazelnut coffee flavoured cakes, slathered with whipped Nutella coffee buttercream frosting and topped with toasted hazelnuts and lashings of melted Nutella!
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not swap 40g of the flour for cocoa powder to make this a Hazelnut Mocha Cake instead?
This Hazelnut Latte Cake will keep well in an airtight container or on a covered cake stand for up to 4 days. No need to refrigerate, unless you prefer it cold!
Ingredients
For the Hazelnut Latte Cake:
- 200g (13 tbsp) softened butter or margarine
- 180g (scant 1 cup) caster sugar or soft brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 200g (1 ½ cups) self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (such as Frangelico) or hazelnut syrup (such as Monin)
- 2 shots of espresso (or 1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water)
For the Hazelnut Latte Frosting and decoration:
- 200g (13 tbsp) softened butter
- 100g (½ cup) Nutella (plus extra for drizzling)
- 300g (2 ½ cups) icing sugar
- 2 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (such as Frangelico) or hazelnut syrup (such as Monin)
- 2 shots of espresso (or 1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water)
- Handful of hazelnuts (optional)
Instructions
For the Hazelnut Latte Cake:
- Preheat your oven - 180 C / 160 C fan / 350 F / gas mark 4 - and grease/line two 20-25cm (7-10 inch) sandwich cake tins.
- Place your butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a mixer or with a big spoon/spatula until light and fluffy.
- Add your eggs one at a time, beating between each addition until fully combined. Don't worry if it looks a little curdled, once you add the flour it will be fine!
- Sift your flour and into the bowl along with the hazelnut liqueur/syrup and the strong coffee/espresso and mix gently until everything is smooth and combined.
- Scoop all the batter into the two prepared cake tins and smooth out the top as best you can.
- Bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, until firm and a skewer inserted into the centre can be pulled out cleanly.
- Allow the cakes to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing them from the tin to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the buttercream frosting.
For the Hazelnut Latte Frosting and decoration:
- Beat together the butter, sugar, Nutella, hazelnut liqueur/syrup and the coffee.
- Beat again vigorously until it looks light and paler in colour, this is easiest with a stand mixer or an electric whisk, but you can manage it by hand too! At this stage, feel free to taste it and add more sugar or Nutella if you like!
- Once the cake is completely cool and your frosting is ready, slather the top of one sponge with it.
- Sandwich it with the other sponge.
- Spread the top sponge with more frosting, pushing it down the edges.
- Smooth the edges out roughly with a knife or palette knife, this is known as the crumb-coat. You can chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes or so at this stage to help firm up the frosting for a completely smooth result, I’m usually too lazy for this though!
- Add another few blobs of frosting round the sides and the top of the cake, smoothing it out as best you can until you have no frosting left. (If you do have extra, feel free to pipe little stars or blobs around the top like I have!)
- Chop up your hazelnuts (if using) and sprinkle them over the top of the cake.
- Gently melt a few big spoons of Nutella in the microwave for 40-60 seconds, then use a spoon or knife to drizzle it all over the top and/or sides of your cake, the messier the better!
- Or just decorate however you like!
- Now just slice and enjoy!
You may also like…
Vanilla Latte Cake
