by popular demand: Nutella Pound Cake

Over the past few months I’ve tweeted, blogged and facebooked my holiday baking. One of moi most-requested recipes: Nutella Pound Cake. I’ve been a Nutella fan (if you don’t know, Nutella is an Italian hazelnut and cocoa spread. And no, it’s not French: but the French have adopted Nutella as one of their own, and is typically served on bread for breakfast) for years, even back when it was très cher and hard to find in the US: I used to drag it back with me from Europe. Now it’s everywhere, and not so expensive. Living in Paris I couldn’t satisfy my chocolate-covered pretzel cravings without alot of chocolate melting and mess, so I’d sit on the couch and dip pretzels sticks right in the jar of Nutella. I don’t even want to think about those calories!

Last fall I was walking in Riverside Park, listening to the Gayle King Show on Sirius. I don’t know who her guest was, but they mentioned Nutella pound cake. So naturally it stuck in my head, and when I flew to Omaha for my annual holiday baking marathon with bff J, we decided to bake Nutella Pound Cakes.

Couldn’t be simpler: J’s recipe for cream cheese pound cake and a jar of nutella. O.M.G. Died and gone to Nutella heaven. Her kids ate the 1st loaf for breakfast: it was a hit. So immediately we bought more Nutella, and made a half dozen loaves for the holidays. Then when I flew home, I made a few more. Then my son requested one for his office. A new holiday baking tradition was born.

Nutella Pound Cake

makes 1 loaf (you can use your favorite pound cake recipe, but this is what we used)

1. Cream together cream cheese, butter and margarine. Add sugar and beat well. Add 2 eggs and 1 cup flour – mix well. Continue to add eggs and flour until gone. Add extracts and mix well.
2. Grease a loaf pan well. Spoon 1/2 cake batter into pan. Lightly spread entire jar of Nutella over batter, fairly evenly. Top with remaining cake batter.
3. With a long bamboo skewer or cake tester, lightly draw a swirl pattern through the batter, trying to reach through all 3 layers but NOT scraping the bottom of the pan. DO NOT overswirl: just a light marbling of the layers.
4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour 15 – 30 minutes, until cake is set. Let cool 30 minutes, then gently remove from pan to continue cooling.

Bon Appétit!

Moi tip: Nutella Pound Cake freezes beautifully! Just wrap the fully baked and cooled pound cake in aluminum foil, and freeze. I always use a marker to write the contents and date on the package: but I’m guessing Nutella Pound Cake won’t last long in your freezer.

Moi tip encore: there are lots of Nutella recipes out there: just google. I just started following a new Nutella twitter site: @THEbellanutella: all Nutella, all the time!