Nutella Bundt Cake
A rich, buttery vanilla cake with swirls of Nutella and a decadent Nutella glaze. This Nutella Bundt Cake is easy to make, but worthy of entertaining. Let this cake shine as the star of your next celebration!
It’s a little hard to believe that I did an entire yearlong series on bundt cakes, and yet never shared a recipe with everyone’s favorite dessert condiment: Nutella! Let’s fix this now, with a deliciously decadent Nutella bundt cake.
Nutella is really the perfect match for a bundt cake. It’s rich and creamy on its own — perfect for a cake that doesn’t use frosting. The Nutella swirls into the batter, almost making it seem like the cake is mixed with frosting.
As if that isn’t enough, we’ll then make a Nutella glaze to pour right on top. If you love all things hazelnut, a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts on top takes it right over the edge.
And the best part? It’s so dang easy. It’s way easier than a layer cake, yet fancy enough for any sort of celebration. Talk about a cake win!
Best Butter-Based Bundt Cake Batter
Let’s dive right in. This cake has a similar base to my much-loved marble bundt cake. Except instead of flavoring half the batter with chocolate, we’re keeping it all vanilla.
It’s a butter-based cake, which means the cake itself has a rich, buttery flavor, and it’s a little denser. I tested this cake out twice, once with an oil base and once with a butter base, and the butter base was the hands-down winner.
The cake made with butter not only tasted a little better, but it also had a much better texture. Of course, this can all be explained by my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!
Kitchen Chemistry
Because bundt cakes are so thick, they tend to come out denser than a sheet cake or layer cake. When we cream together butter and sugar, the sugar granules cut through the butter and create little pockets of air. This is a process known as “mechanical leavening.” These air pockets will continue to puff up in a hot oven as they fill with steam, helping to provide additional lift and fluffiness to a cake.
Thick Nutella Swirls
After pouring half of the batter into the bowl, spoon in the Nutella.
I like to warm it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, so it pours and swirls a little easier. This isn’t fancy, just spoon it on top and take a knife to swirl it around a little. Then scoop the rest of the batter on top.
Once the cake cools, you’ll cover the whole thing in a Nutella glaze.
Whisk together the heavy cream and Nutella on the stovetop, then let it cool slightly. Pour over the cake, using a spatula to gently push it over the edge of the bundt cake.
Top with some toasted hazelnuts for a little crunch. Perfection.
Recommended Tools to Make Nutella Bundt Cake
- Stand Mixer: Using a stand mixer aerates the butter well, which helps provide more lift and a fluffier cake texture.
- 12 Cup Bundt Pan: Bake this cake in a 12-cup bundt pan, not one of the more decorative 10-cup pans. If you want to use a 10-cup pan, only fill the batter 3/4ths of the way up the side and use the leftover batter to make a few cupcakes!
- 2 Quart Saucepan: Use this sort of small saucepan to heat the glaze to pour over top of the cake.
- Hazelnuts: I can’t always find roasted hazelnuts at our grocery store, so I usually order them online from my favorite source.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Nutella Bundt Cake
- New to baking in bundt pans? Looking for the best tips and tricks to ensure your cake doesn’t stick? Check out THIS POST for all my best bundt tips!
- No bundt pan? No problem! Bake this cake in two loaf pans instead of a bundt pan. Divide between two well-greased 9×5-inch loaf pans and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Don’t overbake the cake – this will result in a drier, crumbly texture. Bake just until the edges begin to pull away from the pan and the top is springy when pushed back.
- Wait until the cake is fully cooled before adding the frosting – otherwise it will not set and will run off the sides of the cake.
- Bought buttermilk to make this cake and have extra? Freeze your leftover buttermilk and use it for future baking!
More Nutella Desserts:
- No Bake Nutella Pie
- Nutella Swirl Cupcakes
- Nutella Pumpkin Bread
- Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake
- Banana Nutella Cake
- Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Pie
Nutella Bundt Cake
A rich, buttery vanilla cake with swirls of nutella and a decadent nutella glaze. This nutella bundt cake is easy to make, but worthy of a celebration.
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE:
- 1 1/4 cup (282.5 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (396 grams) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (113.5 grams) full-fat sour cream
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (360 grams) all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (170.3 grams) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (160 grams) nutella
FOR THE GLAZE:
- 1/2 cup (113.5 grams) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (160 grams) nutella
For topping:
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) chopped toasted hazelnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and sour cream. Beat until smooth. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and half the flour, continuing to mix. Add in the buttermilk, followed by the rest of the flour. Continue to mix just until no streaks of flour remain.
- Generously grease and flour a 12 cup metal bundt pan. Spread half the cake batter in the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Scoop the nutella on top of the batter, then swirl into the batter with a knife. Pour in the rest of the cake batter. Gently but firmly bang the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- While the cake cools, make the glaze. Combine the heavy cream and nutella in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk together until smooth and fully combined. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.
Notes
Cake will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. To freeze, wrap cake tightly in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Allow to thaw overnight at room temperature before serving.
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This really is a showstopper! Definitely worthy of entertaining … but I love that it’s so easy to make. As a hostess, it’s always awesome to whip out amazing dishes that were secretly stress-free and easy-peasy! 😀
You’re at it again with the bundt cakes Julie!!! I love the sound of this Nutella is everything!!
I rarely take out my bundt pan and now I have an excellent reason to do so. Nutella is always a great excuse to make a cake and yours looks WOW.
I don’t have a bundt pan! This recipe is making me add it to my list of things that I need because I need to try this nutella bundt cake! How delicious!
I feel like all bundts or ok for breakfast, don’t you? Hahah I would devour this amazing looking cake.
This reminds me of the cake my mom used to make for my dad growing up, but without the nutella swirl and without coming from a box! I’ll have to try it next time I visit him!
Nutella swirled in the batter and on top of this beautiful bundt cake. What can we ask more????
Who wouldn’t love a Nutella Bundt Cake?! I love this idea!
I love bundt cakes! This sounds amazing with the Nutella swirled inside the cake and the glaze on top. Looks great for company and easy to make too!
Mmm, what a yummy cake! I love all those hazelnuts sprinkled on top!
This looks delicious. I love the two-tone effect, and making a sort of Nutella ganache for the frosting is really clever.
I sprinkled a little kosher salt on top of the glaze. ?
Yesss that sounds so good!! I love the sweet-salty combination!
While I’m not a huge nutella fan, my husband loves it. I’m sure he’d like this cake. It really does look delicious!
What a delicious looking cake, love the hazelnuts AND nutella combo!
I love the swirls of Nutella throughout this cake. The perfect dessert when I’m looking for something sweet and a little different.
This recipe looks amazing! I notice that you recommend a 12 cup bundt pan. I only have a 10 cup bundt pan. How long would you recommend a baking time be for a 10 cup bundt pan? Still 50 minutes?
Hi Skylar — the batter may be too much for a 10 cup pan, so only fill your bundt pan to roughly 3/4 of the way full and discard any extra batter (or pour it into cupcakes or some other smaller pan) so it doesn’t overflow, and then I’d start checking for doneness around 40 minutes!
Made it today. I missed the 12 cup size part of the recipe, I was chatting with my son in law while I finished it up, so I admit to being distracted while pouring it in. But this was a total fail for me. I really wanted it to work since it was for my daughter’s birthday and anniversary party. But beyond my error to overflow the pan, the nutella all ran to the bottom (top when plated) . It looks terrible, it started to collapse after turning out of the pan. I was worried the nutella would do that so I actually swirled it in last. Still went all the way to the bottom so no amount of swirling and giving it more space did anything to help. I think it will still taste good, just looks terrible. I am going to generously guess that it has something to do with our altitude. I was worried about the amount of leavening to begin with. I might try it again with high altitude adjustments. I often don’t need them so this surprised me.
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that this didn’t work for you! I do include a lot of leavening in my bundt cakes to give them a fluffier texture, but I live at sea level (altitude of 30 feet) so I have not tested or tried any of my recipes at high altitude. You certainly can reduce the leavening; it results in a denser, flatter cake here, but may be just what you need at higher altitudes.