Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting and Candied Hazelnuts

Banana and Nutella is a match made in heaven….don’t you agree? If you don’t agree…well then you’re crazy! I still like you, I just think you’re nuts….hazelnuts.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 bananas, mashed

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and line with parchment two round 8 inch cake pans.

1) In a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the bananas and vanilla mixing for about a minute.

3) Add the flour mixture and the sour cream to the butter mixture - alternating between the two…beginning and ending with the flour. Mix about 1 more minute to combine.

4) Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick come out clean. Cool cakes completely.

Candied Hazelnut ingredients:

1 cup Hazelnuts, as much of the skin removed as possible and roughly chopped.

2 Tbs salted butter

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

1) In a medium sized frying pan over medium-low heat, melt butter. When the butter is melted sprinkle half the sugar evenly over melted butter. Scatter the hazelnuts over the top of the butter and sugar then sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the tops of the nuts.

2) When the sugar starts to melt stir the nuts…let them sit for another minute and stir. Continue until the sugar is fully melted and starts to turn a light brown. Be careful not to burn the sugar…turning down the heat if needed.

3) Spread the sugared nuts out on parchment paper…let them cool completely and then break them apart with your hands.

Frosting ingredients:

2 cups Nutella

1 cup butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

4 Tbs whipping cream

Directions:

1) Beat butter and Nutella until fluffy and fully incorporated. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, beat in the whipping cream. Continue mixing on high speed until the frosting is nice and fluffy.

Cake assembly:

This cake is meant to be naked, if you’d like to cover it completely with frosting, you might want to double the frosting recipe. Frost first layer with 1/2 the frosting and sprinkle with candied hazelnuts, add the next layer and top with the rest of the frosting, and hazelnuts. Enjoy!