Who has returned to baking in the new year? Raising my hand here with this luscious Baked Apple Nutella Chocolate Cake. I’m back in the kitchen after swearing off food forever on January 1, 2018. We all do this, right? Time to stop the madness. This unique chocolatey hazelnut apple dessert makes up for the last two weeks of food deprivation.
In this version, I switched up the recipe and the flavors. Admittedly, I was skeptical while creating the recipe. Specifically, I worried the apples are not soft enough in the end result. However, the cake recipe worked perfectly and the results are delicious.
This Baked Apple Nutella Chocolate Cake looks complicated. Intimidating even. However, the most labor-intensive part of making this recipe is peeling and coring the apples. Once those steps are done, everything else comes together quickly. The apples are prebaked for 15 minutes. Use that time to create the cake batter and stir the Nutella filling together.
The cake is thick and fudgy and studded with cored apples filled with warm Nutella. Additionally, the Nutella is mixed with raw, chopped hazelnuts. I specifically added hazelnuts to align their beautiful flavor with the Nutella. In any case, when hazelnuts are hard to find, adding walnut pieces work just as well.
Baked Apple Nutella Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 8 apples, any sweet-tart variety
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup Nutella
- 1/2 cup chopped raw hazelnuts
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Peel and core the apples, leaving them whole.
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Place them in a casserole dish and brush them with the lemon juice.
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Place the apples in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
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Remove from oven and let cool.
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Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool.
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Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
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Beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy.
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Add the eggs one at a time and beat in the vanilla extract.
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Beat in the melted chocolate.
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Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
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Spread the cake batter out in the pan. Arrange the Nutella filled apples in the pan, pushing them into the batter.
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Heat the Nutella in the microwave or in a double boiler. Stir in the hazelnuts.
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Use a small spoon to fill the apples with the Nutella-hazelnut mixture.
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Place in the oven. After 40 minutes, cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
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Remove from oven and let cool. De-pan the cake. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut and serve.
Like this Baked Apple Nutella Chocolate Cake? Try some of these other nutty apple cakes:
