‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond Called Her Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake ‘1 of the Craziest Cakes I Ever Made’
Ree Drummond has made plenty of cakes in her lifetime but she calls one recipe “one of the craziest cakes I ever made.” The Pioneer Woman star attempted to stack four layers of chocolate cake with Nutella, whipped cream, and strawberries in between — it didn’t turn out quite how she hoped.
‘The Pioneer Woman’ star had a layer cake disaster
On Feb. 14, Drummond shared a recipe for an easy layer cake on Facebook. “This was one of the craziest cakes I ever made in the old days (in fact, there’s a photo in this post of a fridge disaster when I tried to double it and turn it into four layers),” she wrote.
Drummond added, “The flavor is incredible, though, and it looks pretty if you stick to two layers (or you can keep it really simple and do a sheet cake.)”
The Facebook entry linked to a 2013 recipe blog post on The Pioneer Woman website, which showed the beautiful two-layer cake.
“I made this cake on a whim,” she wrote. “I didn’t feel like making ganache, so in desperation, I reached for the half-eaten tub of Nutella I’d hidden on the top shelf of our pantry to keep out of my kids’ grubby hands and used it for the chocolate ‘icing’ layer.”
She added, “I probably don’t need to tell you the bliss that ensued. Because I was feeling obnoxious, I decided to double the original recipe and make a four layer monstrosity, which was delicious and hilarious all at the same time.”
Her photos showed why it was “hilarious,” with all the layers sliding off the cake stand.
How to make Ree Drummond’s easy chocolate strawberry Nutella cake
Drummond demonstrated how to make her decadent chocolate cake on an episode of The Pioneer Woman. “I’m whipping up a huge — and I mean huge — four-layer chocolate cake,” she said. “It’s going to be dripping with cream and strawberries.”
The Food Network star combined flour, sugar, and salt in a mixer. Then she made the chocolate mixture by melting butter in a pan and whisking in cocoa and boiling water. After the mixture boiled for 30 seconds, Drummond drizzled it into the dry ingredients.
In a bowl, she whisked together eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda, then drizzled the mixture into the batter in the mixer. “This is such an easy cake,” Drummond noted. “This is the same cake my mother-in-law handed to me when Ladd and I were engaged. It’s gotten me through a lot of rough times in life.”
Drummond bakes and assembles the cake
She poured the batter into four greased and parchment-lined round cake pans and baked the cakes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes. Drummond allowed the cake to cool before assembling the layers.
“For extra richness and gooeyness, I’m going to add a layer of chocolate hazelnut spread to the top of each cake layer … this stuff is so amazing,” Drummond noted.
She placed the first layer on a cake stand, then topped it with whipped cream and sliced sweetened strawberries. Drummond repeated the layers.
