Nutella Poundcake by Joan's on Third
For World Nutella Day last week, Joan’s on Third made the yummiest poundcake I ever heard of: Nutella poundcake. Why didn’t anyone tell me that such a thing of beauty existed? Luckily I found out from Nastassia of Let Me Eat Cake, who happens to work at Joan’s and who was good enough to save me a loaf! Huzzah! I braved a torrential rainstorm and cross-town traffic during rush hour to pick it up. And twas sooo worth it.
Once I got it home I dug into it, nearly eating the whole thing in one sitting. Fortunately (or
unfortunately) I was able to remember to save some for my bf since I had been going on and on about it and he was good enough to drive me through a torrential rainstorm in rush-hour traffic to get it. Would have been rude if I didn’t at least save him…a sliver.
Hitting the Nutella motherload.
Anyway, the cake was so moist and OMG the ribbons of Nutella that ran through the cake were like crack, making it difficult to stop eating. Just when I was about to store the cake away, I’d bite into a motherload of that chocolate-hazelnut goodness and continued to nom away. I call this the Ben & Jerry’s effect. And the top of the loaf was a little denser than the rest of the cake, so I could break if off to enjoy like you would the edge of pie crusts.
I have no doubt that I could polish off a whole loaf all by myself.
In any case, you’ll be happy to know that this isn’t a once-a-year thing. Joan’s on Third will be making more Nutella poundcake for this Saturday but they’ll be sold as slices at $1.95 a slice.
However, if you’d like to make one for yourself, unfortunately and understandably, Joan is keeping that recipe to herself but Nastassia has some behind-the-scene coverage of the making of the cake. And I found this Food & Wine recipe for a Nutella Swirl Poundcake that you can take a stab at.
Nutella Swirl Poundcake by Lauren Chattman
from _Food & Wine
_
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- One 13-ounce jar Nutella
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour. In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.
- Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not overmix.
- Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.
Don’t know where to find a jar of Nutella? Use this handy-dandy site to locate one near you.