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"Nutella" Cheesecake Dark Chocolate Overload Cake (Vegan)

Is too much chocolate ever really a bad idea? This cake pushes that question to its limit but the real question is can you handle it?????

Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 1 cake (18-24 servings)

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 cup 2 sticks vegan "butter", softened
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
  • 1 cup strong brewed black coffee
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
  • 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 4 ounces dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate melted
  • 2/3 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

Nutella Cheesecake Layer:

  • 1/3 block extra firm tofu drained
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup heavy coconut cream *see note
  • 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread **see note
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Whipped "Nutella" Frosting:

  • 1 cup heavy coconut cream softened *see note
  • 1 1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread **see note
  • 1/3 cup about 6 tablespoons vegan "butter", softened
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoons salt

Optional Toppings:

  • cocoa powder for dusting top of cake
  • chocolate curls and shavings
  • multi-flavored pirouette cookies I used about 80

Instructions

Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and grease 3, 9 or 10 inch round cake pans with oil and line with parchment circles. In a large mixing bowl, cream "butter" and sugar together. Beat in milk and coffee then add salt, baking powder, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Stir in cocoa powder and all purpose flour a little at a time until combined, then fold in melted chocolate. Divide batter into 2 of the pans as evenly as possible. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the batter evenly and swirl them in slightly with a knife.
  2. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely then loosen cake edges with a knife and invert onto large plates. Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

"Nutella" Cheesecake Layer:

  1. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (160 C). Combine all the ingredients for the cheesecake in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth, making sure there are no lumps. Pour the batter into your third prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes until the center doesn't (or just barely) jiggle when pan is nudged. Remove and cool completely. Loosen edges and invert onto a plate carefully. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge for at least an hour.

Whipped "Nutella" Frosting:

  1. Pour coconut cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat until it forms stiff peaks. Add the "nutella" and butter and beat until combined, then slowly stir in remaining ingredients and beat until frosting is light and fluffy. You can add more powdered sugar as needed for frosting to be a thick enough consistency.

Assemble:

  1. To assemble, trim cakes until level, then spread frosting on one of the cakes and place the cheesecake layer on next. Cover cheesecake layer gently with another thin coat of frosting and place the second cake layer on top. Frost the top and all the sides with desired amount of remaining frosting until smooth (you might have some extra frosting). If desired, dust the top with cocoa powder and line the sides with pitouette cookies. Also if desired, top with a heaping pile of chocolate curls, chocolate shavings, and cut pirouette cookies.

Recipe Notes

*If you have trouble finding coconut cream at your local grocery store it's completely fine to use full-fat coconut milk and scrape the cream off of the top. Just be sure that it's cold enough to separate.

**You can make homemade nutella or use a brand of chocolate hazelnut butter that doesn't have dairy. (Btw, Nutella brand does)