Today, I was planning to go to a local festival, but when those plans fell through, I decided to bake! The above that you're looking at is a Torani Vanilla Cake with a delicate chocolate hazelnut frosting.
Cake:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 tbls vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Torani vanilla syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray 2 round cake pans with nonstick spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and eggs, either whipping with an electric mixer for 1 minute or with a whisk (my preferred method) 200 times. Add all other ingredients and whip well. Pour into cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden and a stick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
Frosting:
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (I use Spectrum brand)
1/2 stick salted european butter (I think the salt adds to the end result flavor, so, don't use unsalted butter)
4-41/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
3 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread (I use Stonewall Kitchen brand, available at Sur La Table and other similar stores, but Nutella will work), plus more for layering.
Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer, scraping down sides occasionally.
To assemble cake:
Remove first layer from the pan, place it on a plate and cut off top with a serrated knife. Spread the first layer with chocolate hazelnut spread (not frosting) and place the second layer on top of it. Start frosting on the sides with a butter knife and spread a generous amount on top, you'll probably still have some let over.
