Almond Nutella Cake Recipe (Dacquoise)

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This almond nutella cake walks on the wild side. It’s a flavor explosion – combining the best of some of my favorite deserts. It has the coffee goodness of a tiramisu cream with the nutty sweetness of macaroons and is laced with chocolatey nutella. The layers are kind of like giant macarons but the batter is not as finicky and is much more forgiving.

This cake can be made in advance since it is best served the next day, after the almond layers have had a chance to soften and take on some of the coffee infused cream. This is also a gluten free cake! That’s great news for those of you who are gluten free! 🙂

This cake was based on a recipe shared with me by one of my readers, Anna. It is exactly as she described, “delicious.” P.S. Anna also adds shaved chocolate espresso beans between the layers and over the top, but I couldn’t find any and was way too eager to make the cake! Anna, thank you so much for sharing this goodness with me :).

Ingredients for Macaron/Almond Cake Layers:

325 grams super finely ground almond flour (*see note below) *measured correctly
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup.
1/4 tsp salt
6 large egg whites, room temp
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

*Note on measuring/weighing flour: I weighed the almond flour, but if you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can measure out 3 1/2 cups almond flour using this method: spoon flour into the measuring cup and scrape off the top without packing flour down. Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly!

For Frosting, Filling & Toppings:

3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp coffee extract or almond liquor or chocolate liquor
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 to 1/2 of a 26.5 oz Nutella jar
Semisweet chocolate bar for decor

Prep:

1. Trace three 8-inch circles on parchment paper (I baked all 3 layers at once – two on one large baking sheet and one on a second sheet). Trace in a bold pen or permanent marker then flip the paper over so you can see the tracing without putting the batter directly over the marker. Lightly butter top of the parchment paper with a paper towel. Arrange baking racks for both pans to fit in the center of the oven (the first was in the top third of the oven and the second was in the bottom third).

How to Make the Almond Nutella Cake Layers:

1. In a large bowl, combine: 325 grams almond flour (3 1/2 cups lightly packed) with 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt, and thoroughly whisk together until no large clumps of flour remain.

2. In the clean/dry bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 6 egg whites on high speed for 1 minute or until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, add in 1/2 Tbsp vanilla. With the mixer still on, add 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating on high speed for 2-3 min or until stiff but manageable.

3. Fold the egg whites into the almond meal gently, about 1/2 cup at a time until no streaks remain. 

4. Divide and spread batter evenly onto the three traced circles of your parchment paper. The more evenly you spread them now, the prettier they will be when stacked later. Bake at 325˚F for 12 min, rotate pans and bake another 12 min. Turn oven off and keep in the oven another 15 min. You want the top to be dry and crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Remove from oven and let cool to room temp.

Making the Frosting:

1. In the bowl of your mixer, combine 3 cups heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed (1 min) until soft peaks form, add in 2 tsp coffee extract and 2 tsp vanilla extract and continue mixing on high (1-2 min) until spreadable but don’t overbeat or you’ll end up with a lumpy buttery cream. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

Assembling the Almond Nutella Cake:

1. Spread nutella on the bottom of two of your cake layers and set aside. Add nutella based on how sweet you like your cakes – I used 1/2 a tub for my fierce sweet tooth but you can use less 1/3 if you prefer less sweetness

2. Place the third cake layer (without nutella on it) on a cake stand and cover generously with frosting. Top with the next layer, nutella-side-down. Cover the top with frosting. Repeat with last layer then frost the top and sides of the cake. I piped a border around the top of the cake with my Wilton Open-star frosting tip.

3. Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate curls, or grated chocolate covered espresso beans. Refrigerate the cake for 6-8 hours, or overnight since the almond layers need time to soften up; otherwise it will be difficult to slice the cake. Also, for ease of slicing, remove the cake from the refrigerator about 30 min before serving.

Tip: I made the chocolate curls by melting chocolate then spreading it thinly over the back of a baking sheet. Once it cooled, I scraped the pan with a food scraper to make the curls. You could also use a butter knife.

Almond Nutella Cake Recipe

4.99 from 55 votes

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

This Almond Nutella Cake has the coffee goodness of a tiramisu cream with the nutty sweetness of macaroons and is laced with Nutella. It's best served the next day. p.s. it's gluten free.

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Prep Time: 8 hours hrs

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 8 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Ingredients 

Servings: 8 1/2-inch round cake

Ingredients for Almond Cake Layers:

• 325 grams super finely ground almond flour, *or 3 1/2 cups, see note below
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup.
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 large egg whites, room temp
• 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

For Frosting, Filling & Toppings:

• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp coffee extract or almond liquor or chocolate liquor
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 to 1/2 of a 26.5 oz Nutella jar
• Semisweet chocolate bar for decor

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Instructions

Prep:

• Trace three 8-inch circles on parchment paper (I baked all 3 layers at once - two on one large baking sheet and one on a second sheet). Trace in a bold pen or permanent marker then flip the paper over so you can see the tracing without putting the batter directly over markings. Lightly butter top of parchment paper with a paper towel. Arrange baking racks with the first rack in the top third of the oven and the second in the bottom third.

How to Make the Almond Cake Layers: Preheat Oven to 325˚F.

• In a large bowl, combine: 325 grams almond flour with 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt, and thoroughly whisk together until no large clumps of flour remain.
• In the clean/dry bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 6 egg whites on high speed for 1 minute or until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, add in 1/2 Tbsp vanilla then add 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating on high speed for 2-3 min or until stiff but manageable.
• Fold the egg whites into the almond meal gently, about 1/2 cup at a time until no streaks remain.
• Divide and spread batter as evenly as possible (they'll stack better later!) onto the three traced circles of your parchment paper. Bake at 325˚F for 12 min, rotate pans between racks and bake another 12 min. Turn oven off and keep in the oven another 15 min. You want it to be dry and crunchy on the outside and semi-soft inside. Remove from oven and let cool to room temp on a wire rack.

Making the Frosting:

• In the bowl of your mixer, combine 3 cups heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed (1 min) until soft peaks form, add 2 tsp coffee extract and 2 tsp vanilla extract and continue mixing on high (1-2 min) until spreadable (don't overbeat). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Assembling Cake:

• Spread Nutella on the bottom of two of your cake layers and set aside. Add Nutella based on how sweet you like your cakes - I used 1/2 a tub for my fierce sweet tooth but you can use less 1/3 if you prefer less sweetness.
• Place the third cake layer (without Nutella on it) on a cake stand and cover generously with frosting. Top with the next layer, Nutella-side-down. Cover the top with frosting. Repeat with last layer then frost the top and sides of the cake. I piped a border around the top of the cake with my large Wilton open-star frosting tip.
• Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate curls, or grated chocolate covered espresso beans. Refrigerate cake 6-8 hours, or overnight since the almond layers need time to soften up; otherwise it will be difficult to slice.

Notes

*On measuring/weighing flour: I weighed 325 grams almond flour, but if you don't have a kitchen scale, you can measure out 3 1/2 cups almond flour using this method: spoon flour into the measuring cup and scrape off the top without packing flour down.

Tip: I made the chocolate curls by melting chocolate then spreading it thinly over the back of a baking sheet. Once it cooled, I scraped the pan with a food scraper to make the curls. You could also use a butter knife.
Tip: For ease of slicing, remove the cake from the refrigerator about 30 min before serving.

• Full Nutrition Label
• Nutrition Disclosure

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Nutella Cake

Skill Level: Medium

Cost to Make: $$

♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥

Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
*The lovely turquoise Fiesta Cake Plate with Server.
*One of my 3 fave frosting tips: Wilton 1M Open Star.
*Spread frosting like a pro: OXO Bent Spatula
*Ofcourse the “workhorse”: KitchenAid Pro 6Qt
*Nutella, just in case (good price on Amazon!)