Raspberry Nutella Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This cake looks and tastes so dreamy! It makes a perfect centerpiece for any dessert table. The cake is a super simple Pan di Spagna (sponge cake) layered with fresh raspberries and My classic Nutella Frosting, topped with Chocolate ganache. You can use any fruit you like and make it your own. My Nonna Romana is a Pan di Spagna master! But chocolate was never her favorite flavor so it was up to me to figure out how to keep the integrity of the recipe and get the same great texture with a chocolate flavor. I found that with cocoa powder a little goes a long way and adding the butter to the standard made for a beautifully moist cake! I hope you enjoy baking this as much as I did!

Ingredients

For 12 Person(s)

For the Cake:

3/4 cup all purpose flour or 00 flour
3/4 cup corn starch
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 large eggs (room temperature)
pinch of salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 ounces unsalted butter
extra raspberries for decor

For the Nutella Frosting/Filling:

13 ounces Nutella, room temperature
15 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup fresh raspberries, mashed

For the Ganache:

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate. Either chips or bar will work
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease two 9 inch spring form cake pans with shortening or butter.
Sift together flour, corn starch and cocoa together and set aside.
In a standing mixer beat the eggs, salt and sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes. Change to high speed until ribbons form (about 15 minutes) mixture will be fluffy and lighter in color.
Little by little sprinkle a flour, cocoa and corn starch mixture over the top and fold into the eggs and sugar.
Make sure to do this little by little as folding too much of the dry mixture at once can deflate the eggs making the cake dense.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and cool a bit
Once the dry mixture is incorporated take a cup full of batter and mix into the melted butter. Fold in the melted butter and batter mixture into the rest of the batter.
Pour batter equally into 2 cake pans and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center of the cake is set and springy.
Cool completely before frosting.

For the Nutella Frosting/Filling:

Mash the raspberries with a fork or by hand. Set aside.
In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer combine the mascarpone and nutella until smooth.

For the Ganache:

In a small saucepan heat the heavy cream till just before boiling.
Pour over chocolate in another container and let stand for about 3 minutes. Whisk the chocolate and heavy cream together till fully combined. It should be dark and shiny.
Once cakes are cooled place first layer on a plate or cake stand lined with sheets of parchment paper.
With a spatula spread the Nutella frosting over the first layer leaving a 1/2 inch border. Spread the mashed Raspberries over the Nutella frosting keeping them more towards the center of the cake.
Flip the second layer over so the domed side is down.
Frost the entire cake with the remaining frosting.
Pour the ganache over the center of the cake and start to smooth it out with a spatula. Gently spread the ganache toward the edges of the cake and let it naturally fall down the sides for the drizzle effect.
Decorate with fresh Raspberries.
Chill before serving.