Nutella swirl loaf cake (with hazelnuts)
on Feb 02, 2019, Updated May 04, 2023
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I’d never say no to a slice of homemade vanilla loaf with a cup of tea. But let’s take this up a notch (or three!) by swirling Nutella through it and squishing hazelnuts on top. This Nutella cake is sweet, warm, melty, buttery… and irresistible!
There are quite a few cakes on Scrummy Lane that get rave reviews. Take this crowd pleasing and super easy 6-ingredient Swedish chocolate cake, for instance, or this incredible (but simple) Italian apple cake.
A few other personal favourites include this chocolate orange cake, and this peanut butter, banana and chocolate chip cake (you HAVE to try this one).
A crowd pleasing loaf cake
Actually, there are too many delicious and easy cakes on Scrummy Lane to mention, but one category of cake that’s always popular is loaf cakes or pound cakes!
Let’s face it, they’re the easiest sort of cake to make. Just whisk a few ingredients together, pour into loaf pan, shove in the oven, and you’re less than an hour away from a yummy cake to go with your cup of tea.
This Nutella cake is a real winner. You can’t really go wrong with Nutella, can you? Swirl it through a really well made rich and buttery loaf cake, scatter a few hazelnuts on top, and you’ve created something much more impressive than the sum of its parts.
How to make this Nutella cake
You make this loaf cake in a classic sponge cake way:
STEP 1: CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGAR TOGETHER UNTIL LIGHT AND FLUFFY.
STEP 2: ADD THE EGGS ONE BY ONE.
STEP 3: STIR THROUGH THE DRY INGREDIENTS.
Nothing more complicated than that.
Now comes the fun part!
Roughly split the cake batter into three (just in the bowl – nothing fancy).
Spread the first third over the bottom of the loaf tin. Then warm some Nutella for a few seconds in the microwave before pouring it over.
Pro tip: leave a bit of a border between the Nutella and the edge of the loaf tin so that it doesn’t all ooze out – but don’t worry about getting it perfect.
Cover with a second layer of cake batter, a second layer of Nutella, then a final layer of cake.
Don’t worry that the cake layers are thin – they’ll rise up beautifully!
Just one thing left to do before tossing the cake in the oven – press a big handful of hazelnuts into the top. They add a really complimentary crunch.
Actually, two things left to do… slice and enjoy. Savour each sweet, chocolate-hazelnut-y, super buttery mouthful.
Just look at those swirls!
More easy loaf cakes
- This sticky lemon curd cake with blueberries is one of the most popular cakes on the blog for good reason!
- Really easy mini banana bread (with air fryer option!)
- Zucchini/Courgette in season? Make this pistachio, lime and zucchini loaf. It’s delicious!
- Banana and pistachio loaf with white chocolate cream cheese icing (easy to make this gluten free)
- This 6-ingredient ricotta lemon loaf cake is the cake to make when you need a delicious dessert in a hurry.
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Nutella swirl loaf cake (with hazelnuts)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces butter, (or 2 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 8.8 ounces Nutella
- 1/3 cup whole hazelnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C / 325F. Line a loaf pan (roughly 9 x 5 inches) with baking paper and set aside.
- Leave the butter out of the fridge for a while to soften, then add it to a large bowl with the sugar and cream it together with a hand-held whisk until light and fluffy (two or three minutes).
- Add in the eggs one by one and whisk until well combined, then whisk in the vanilla.
- Tip in the flour and baking powder and stir in with a wooden spoon until well mixed (don’t be tempted to over-mix).
- Pour roughly 1/3 of the cake batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Then warm the Nutella in a microwave* (15 seconds or so should do it) and pour half of it over the batter in the pan.**
- Pour another 1/3 of the batter over the Nutella layer, followed by the rest of the Nutella. Finally, top with the last layer of cake batter.
- Sprinkle with hazelnuts, pressing lightly into the top, then bake the cake for about fifty minutes or until the cake is well risen and has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Let cool for ten minutes in the pan, then remove and let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Hi lovely recipe, found the cooking times a bit tricky, firstly is it “FAN” 160C, I put it in at FAN 160C after 50 mins was still liquidy in the middle, tried another 10 mins and another 10 mins after, ended up a bit dry, but was a lovely cake, was hard to stop the household finishing it – Thanks
Hi Neville! Thank you so much for the review – I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I’ve always had a fan oven and bake at 160C for about 50 minutes, but I know I’ve experienced similar differences in cooking times for these kinds of cakes that start off very liquidy. I find the cook time can vary by 10 to 20 minutes even between different times cooking the same cake in the same oven. Sorry, I know that’s not that much help, but I’d try 60 to 65 minutes in your oven and just keep testing often for the doneness at the end of the cooking time. So glad the family devoured it all the same though 😉
Hello Helen,my cake crust turn out to be hard. What could be the course?
Hi Tina! Do you mean you ended up with a dense cake or that the top was crusty? The top should have a bit of a crisp to it, but that’s a good thing. If your cake was dense it could be that you overmixed the batter after you added the flour. Or maybe your cake was in the oven for a bit too hard. It’s really hard to say. Can you explain a little more?
Hi helen, quick question just wanted to ask is the mixture more stiff i have tried it twice and this is how my mix is turning out. Hope that makes sense
Hi Ummy! It’s probably fine! The mixture is quite runny as it has 4 whole eggs in it. I’d say it’s about the same consistency as banana bread, if you’ve ever made that. How did it turn out?
Hi I have a homebased baked goods business and I would love to make this if that’s alright and I never give out the recipe thank you.
No problem at all – thanks for asking!
Could you please bear in mind your followers in the UK where most of us use digital scales. Every US conversion chart I look at is different. Makes baking a cake twice as long.
Making your Sticky Blueberry lemon curd cake today.
Thanks in anticipation.
Jan
Hi Jan! Just below the recipe ingredients there’s a little button: US customary – metric. Just click on the ‘metric’ button and you’ll see all the measurements in grams.
Hope you enjoy the cake. It’s one of my favourites!
Someone was just telling me how they had never eaten nutella before and I couldn’t believe it! I’ve been craving cake lately and this one looks pretty amazing! I love all that nutella goodness packed in there 🙂
Hi Izzy!!! So nice to see you here! I think that’s criminal… never having tried Nutella before! 🙂
Omg… Helen!!! Before I even saw the glorious photos, you had me at the title! Seriously, what’s not to love?! I’d happily eat Nutella straight out of the jar. But when you up the stakes by swirling it into a loaf cake….what I wouldn’t do for a slice of this right now – I’m seriously drooling here!
I know, Kathleen… aren’t I naughty? Although eating Nutella straight out of the jar is naughtier (totally allowed though – that’s what Nutella’s for!)
Cet cake il est gagnant c’est sûre! Tu as réussie ton strike! Ici, il pleut des cordes toute la journée et ton cake ça me fera le plus grand bien ! Happy raining weekend Helen 😉
🙂
This looks like such a beautiful loaf Helen! I am totally in love with that swirl. You’re making me crave a mug version with a cup of tea right now!
Hi Jessica! Wow! A mug version would be wonderful… give it a go!
This looks absolutely amazing!!! 🙂
Thanks Kristy…hope you give it a go!