Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake Recipe

Prep: Preheat oven to 350F° with the rack in the center. Line a 9-inch round baking pan with parchment paper, or line with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Fasten a wet cake strip around the baking pan.

Whip eggs & sugar: In a stand mixer whip 4 eggs and 3/4 cups sugar with whip attachment for 15 minutes, or until it flows off the whisk in a ribbon that doesn’t disappear for a couple of seconds.

Add dry ingredients: 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 butter: Add 2 tablespoons of melted butter and fold several times to incorporate slightly.

Add poppy seeds: Now add the 1/4 cup dry poppy seeds and fold until just incorporated.

Pour & Bake: Pour into a parchment-lined 9-inch pan and bake for about 30 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

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.

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

Peel the parchment paper off the cake. With a long serrated knife, cut the cake into two even layers horizontally.

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 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 cake layer bottom side up; drizzle with the remaining of soaking syrup. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium french star tip and pipe the frosting in dots, making three circles going from the outside in. Squeeze whatever it left out in the bag and spread it 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 hours before serving. Best eaten within 12-24 hours of assembly.