So, I am creating a pin here 🙂 The Chocolate Challenge is a bake off of sorts, that is annually held in Downtown Bloomington, Illinois. This is the entry I made. And it won.
It is a LONG recipe with a lot of ingredients and it isn’t cheap to make. It also takes a good amount of time. But, it won first place. And I didn’t get to try it. At all.
The Cheesecake Cake
Ingredients
Cheesecake Layer
2 packages (16 oz total) soft cream cheese
½ Cup nutella
2 t REAL Vanilla
½ cup sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup real, room temp sour cream
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate= melted & cooled
Butter for greasing nonstick springform pan
Cake Layers
1¾ cups flour
1¾ cups sugar
¾ cup good cocoa
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1¼ teaspoons good flake salt
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons REAL vanilla
½ cup water
½ cup Hazelnut syrup
1½ teaspoons instant espresso
Butter, shortening or favorite cooking oil, for greasing cake pans
Chocolate-Nutella Cream Cheese Buttercream
2 sticks (1 cup) room temperature butter
4 bricks (8 oz each) room temperature cream cheese
¾ cup nutella
8 cups powdered sugar
Cake side and top
1¼ cups finely chopped blanched & toasted hazelnuts, for top & sides of cake
10 to 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolate-hazelnut candies, for top of cake
Preparation
Prepare the Cheesecake Layer: Preheat oven to 325ºF. Generously grease springform
pan with butter and set aside.
With handheld mixer and large bowl, beat the cream cheese, Nutella and vanilla until
creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides
of bowl as necessary with rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well
after each addition. Add the sour cream and melted chocolate; mix until fully
incorporated and smooth. Using rubber spatula, scrape and pour batter into prepared
pan.
Bake in preheated oven until cheesecake is just set in center and no longer jiggles, about
45 to 50 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven and place on wire cooling rack. Allow
cheesecake to cool completely, at least 1 hour. Once the cheesecake has cooled, place it
(while still in the springform pan) into the freezer, covered with plastic wrap. Let the
cheesecake freeze completely, about 4 to 5 hours or overnight.
Prepare Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with
butter, shortening or oil. Line bottoms with parchment or wax paper circles. Grease
paper linings and dust lined pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
Using handheld mixer and large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking
soda and salt on low speed (stir) until well combined and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add
oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; mix on low speed (stir), scraping down the sides of
bowl as necessary with rubber spatula. Beat on medium speed until well blended, about
2 minutes. Bring water and hazelnut syrup to a boil in saucepan on stove. Immediately,
add espresso granules and stir until dissolved. Carefully add boiling water mixture into
batter on low speed (stir) and mix until well combined. Batter will be very thin. Using
rubber spatula, scrape and pour batter into prepared pans dividing evenly (about 2¾
cups of batter per cake pan). Smooth top.
Bake in center of preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean,
about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run thin metal
spatula around edges of each cake to loosen, then invert onto wire rack and peel away
parchment or wax paper. Turn right side up onto wire racks (using an additional rack
to flip); cool completely.
Assemble & Ice the Cake: Place one cake layer onto serving plate, platter or cake
pedestal or stand in the center. With icing spatula, spread about 3 tablespoons
buttercream evenly over top of cake.
Remove cheesecake layer from the freezer. Loosen cheesecake from sides of pan by
running thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Unmold cheesecake by removing
sides of pan. Carefully, slide a hot knife under the cheesecake, and slide knife around
the outside, to release it from bottom of springform pan.
If necessary, trim cheesecake to match the size of the cake layers. This is done by
measuring the cheesecake layer against the cake layers on a cutting board. If the
cheesecake layer is slightly larger in circumference, use a sharp knife to carefully shave
away some of the outer edge of the frozen cheesecake to match the outer edges of the
cakes until all sides are even or flush.
Place cheesecake layer on top of the first cake layer. Spread 3 tablespoons buttercream
over top of cheesecake. Place second cake layer on top of the cheesecake layer. Spread
frosting over top and sides of cake neatly and evenly. You may do a crumb coat and
then chill the cake for 30 to 45 minutes before completing the icing, if desired. However,
if decorating the sides of the cake with nuts, you can skip the crumb coat because the
nuts will hide any crumbs showing.
To Decorate the Cake:
If decorating the cake, gently press chopped blanched and toasted hazelnuts onto sides
of cake.
Pipe a simple or fancy border with your favorite tip around edge.
To prepare buttercream:
Blend butter, cream cheese and Nutella in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Slowly add
powdered sugar and scrape down side to make sure you get a smooth icing. If too
thick, add milk or cream to get the right consistency.
A Year of Pinterest Cooking 