Italian Mascarpone and Nutella Cake | Torta al Mascarpone e Nutella
This is the cold cake Italian families build when there is no time to bake and no appetite for failure: a pressed biscuit base, a mascarpone cream ribboned with Nutella, a night in the refrigerator and a glaze poured over the top.
What can go wrong is the cream, and above all the meeting of two creams of different weight. This recipe is built around that meeting, so the first slice shows clean dark veins through pale cream.
Yield: 10 servings from one 9 inch (23 cm) springform. Prep: 45 minutes. Bake: 10 minutes for the base only. Chill: 6 hours minimum, overnight preferred. Total: about 7 hours. Difficulty: intermediate. Course: dolce. Region: Lombardy and Piedmont.
The Story
Mascarpone is Lombard and old. It was made in the Lodi and Abbiategrasso countryside as a winter cream cheese, curdled with acid rather than rennet and eaten within days because it kept badly. For most of its history it stayed regional, sold loose and used mainly in the cooking of the plain around Milan. What turned it into a national ingredient was tiramisù, which spread out of the Veneto through the 1970s and 1980s and put tubs of mascarpone into every Italian supermarket refrigerator for the first time. Its 40 percent fat and its lack of any cultured tang make it a neutral canvas for a strong flavor. Lombard cooks beat it with sugar and a splash of liqueur and spooned it into glasses long before it ever met a cake.
That availability is what made this cake possible, and it is why nobody will find a grandmother's version of it. Nutella came out of Alba, where Pietro Ferrero began selling a hazelnut and cocoa paste in 1946 and his son Michele launched the jar under the name Nutella in 1964. It rests on the Tonda Gentile hazelnut of the Langhe and on the gianduja tradition of Turin, where chocolatiers stretched scarce cocoa with hazelnuts in the Napoleonic years. The marriage of the two is far more recent: a dessert of the 1980s and 1990s, born with the Italian torta fredda, the cold cake set in the refrigerator over a pressed biscuit base.
The biscuit base is itself an import, absorbed from American cheesecake and made Italian by the choice of biscuit. Italians reach for Oro Saiwa or plain digestive rather than graham crackers, and the drier, less sweet crumb is exactly what a rich cream needs beneath it. The marbled version, pale mascarpone veined with dark hazelnut cream, is the one that appears at birthdays and at the end of long Sunday lunches, usually made the night before by somebody who had no intention of turning the oven on. It looks like a pastry shop cake, yet it asks for no oven skill at all, only for timing and a light hand. Every decision is made a day before the guests arrive, and the oven is used for ten minutes, for the base alone.
Ingredients
Measure everything before you start, because once the gelatin is in the cream the work has a clock on it. Use full fat mascarpone and real Nutella, and weigh both.
For the biscuit base
Dry plain biscuits, Oro Saiwa or digestive, 9 oz (250 g)
Unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 4 1/2 tbsp (65 g)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tbsp (6 g)
Fine sea salt, 1 small pinch
For the mascarpone cream
Mascarpone, full fat, 1 lb 2 oz (500 g)
Heavy cream, 35 percent fat, very cold, 3/4 cup (180 ml)
Powdered sugar, 1/4 cup (30 g)
Gelatin sheets, 2 sheets (4 g)
Whole milk, 2 tbsp (30 ml)
Vanilla extract, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp (1.5 g)
For the hazelnut cream
Nutella, 10 1/2 oz (300 g)
Mascarpone cream from the bowl above, 3/4 cup (180 g), plus 3 tbsp for tempering
For the glaze and finishing
Nutella, 3 oz (85 g)
Heavy cream, 3 tbsp (45 ml)
Peeled hazelnuts, 2 1/2 oz (70 g)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting, 2 tsp (4 g)
Flaky sea salt, a few crystals per slice, optional
Everything for the mascarpone cream should be cold from the refrigerator, and only the Nutella is warmed. Sheet gelatin is easier to dose than powder here, because two sheets weigh exactly 4 g.
Preparation
Toast and crush the hazelnuts
Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and toast the peeled hazelnuts on a small tray for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking once, until they smell sweet and the centers are pale straw. Cool them completely, then crush them coarsely under the flat of a knife into rubble of several sizes, not a powder.
Build and bake the biscuit base
Raise the oven to 340°F (170°C). Pulse the biscuits to coarse sand, add the cocoa and salt, then the melted butter, until the crumb holds when squeezed. Press it firmly into a 9 inch (23 cm) springform lined with parchment, working it up the sides by 1/2 inch (12 mm). Bake for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a rack.
Bloom the gelatin
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 8 to 10 minutes until limp, squeeze them dry and drop them into the 2 tablespoons of milk in a small saucepan. Warm over the lowest heat, swirling, only until they dissolve, around 120°F (50°C). Take it off the heat at once.
Warm the Nutella
Warm the 10 1/2 oz (300 g) of Nutella in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, or in 20 second microwave bursts, until it reaches about 95°F (35°C) and runs off a spoon in a slow ribbon. Cold Nutella dropped into cold mascarpone shears into lumps that nothing will rescue.
Make the mascarpone cream
Whip the very cold cream to soft peaks and refrigerate it. Work the mascarpone with the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt using a flexible spatula, never a whisk, for about 20 seconds, until smooth and glossy. Fold in the warm gelatin milk quickly, then the whipped cream in three additions. From this moment the gelatin is cooling and the clock is running, so the next three steps take no more than 10 minutes.
Lighten the Nutella with mascarpone cream
Beat 3 tablespoons of the mascarpone cream into the warm Nutella to bring the temperatures together, then fold in 3/4 cup (180 g) of the cream until the mixture is an even milk chocolate brown. It should now feel soft and close to the weight of the white cream.
Fill the mold in alternating spoonfuls
Drop 3 heaping tablespoons of white cream onto the cooled base, then 2 of hazelnut cream beside and on top of them. Keep alternating, white then dark, working from the center outward, until both creams are used. Do not level the surface with a spatula.
Marble with two passes and chill
Draw a skewer slowly through the cream in one wide S shape, turn the tin a quarter turn and draw one more pass. Stop there. Rap the tin once on the counter, cover with film held clear of the surface and refrigerate at 39°F (4°C) for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Glaze and finish at the last moment
Warm the 3 oz (85 g) of Nutella with the 3 tablespoons of cream to about 100°F (38°C) until glossy, then let it cool just above blood heat. Pour it over the center of the chilled cake and tilt the tin so it runs to within 1/2 inch (12 mm) of the edge. Leave it 10 minutes, release the ring, scatter the hazelnuts around the rim and dust the center with cocoa.
Plating
Take the cake out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before cutting, so it reaches around 57°F (14°C). Straight from the cold the hazelnut flavor is shut down and the cream reads as waxy, but any longer and the slices no longer stand up.
Cut with a thin bladed knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between every slice, because a cold blade tears the glaze. Serve on plain white plates and stand each slice upright so the veining shows in full. A quenelle of unsweetened whipped cream cuts the sugar without adding any, but avoid fruit coulis and caramel, which fight the hazelnut. Ten portions from a 9 inch (23 cm) round is generous for a cake this rich, and twelve is not mean.
Professional Technique
The whole cake rests on marbling two masses of different density. Hazelnut cream is denser and heavier than mascarpone cream that has been aerated with whipped cream. Released as it comes, it sinks through the white, pools on the base and leaves a dark slab under a pale top. Beating in 3/4 cup (180 g) of the mascarpone cream first brings its weight close to that of the white, so the two masses hold their place side by side.
Dosing is done with alternating spoonfuls, never poured over the top. Each spoonful lands beside the last and pushes it outward, building bands that stack in height as well as spread in width. Cream poured across the surface makes one flat dark layer that a skewer can only smear.
The skewer needs only two passes. The first drags dark into pale and pale into dark, and the second crosses it and breaks the bands into veins. A third turn keeps mixing until the two colors dissolve into one uniform brown that no later step can undo.
All of this must finish before the gelatin begins to take. Once it starts to set, the cream no longer flows around the skewer and the veins tear into ragged flecks with small voids, instead of stretching into long ribbons. That is why the Nutella is warmed and lightened first and the marbling comes within minutes of the gelatin going in.
The cut tells you how it went. Fine, continuous veins running the full height mean the density, the passes and the timing were right. A dark band at the base means the hazelnut cream was too heavy, a solid brown means a third pass, and broken flecks with holes mean the gelatin had started to set.
Texture and Moisture Control
Three textures have to hold at once: a base that is crisp and sandy, a cream that is dense but aerated, and a glaze that is soft without running. They fail in different directions. The base softens from below if the cream is too wet or the cake sits more than two days. The cream slumps if the gelatin was boiled or the mascarpone overworked. The glaze runs above about 105°F (40°C) and cracks if poured straight from the refrigerator.
Moisture migration is the slow enemy, and the biscuit base is where it lands. Baking the base for 10 minutes coats each crumb with butter that forms a partial water barrier when it sets, whereas an unbaked pressed base is noticeably damp by the second day. Cool the base completely before the cream goes on, since a warm base drives steam upward and creates a soggy interface.
Hold the refrigerator at 39°F (4°C) and keep the cake away from the back wall, where the surface can partly freeze and then weep on thawing. Cover the tin but keep the film off the cream, or the top layer lifts away when the film is removed.
Professional Mise en Place
The whole dessert is made the day before, but the assembly window is short and the temperatures must be ready before anything is mixed.
Equipment and tools
Springform tin, 9 inch (23 cm), base lined with parchment
Food processor, or a rolling pin and a sturdy bag
Wide bowl, flexible spatula, tablespoon for dosing, wooden skewer
Small saucepan for the gelatin milk and a bowl for the bain marie
Offset spatula, fine mesh sieve, thin bladed knife, jug of hot water
Instant read thermometer for the 95°F (35°C) Nutella
Prepared ahead
Biscuit base baked and fully cooled, up to 2 days ahead in the tin
Hazelnuts toasted and crushed, up to 3 days ahead in a sealed jar
Whole cake assembled and chilled overnight without the glaze
Heavy cream and its whipping bowl kept in the refrigerator until the last second
Service setup
Glaze warmed to about 100°F (38°C) and stirred once before pouring
Cake out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before the first cut
Hot water and a clean cloth beside the board for wiping the blade
Plates at room temperature, never chilled
Chef Tips
Buy mascarpone that lists only cream and an acidulant, and check the date. Tubs near the end of their life show a thin layer of liquid on top. Pour it off and use that cheese for something cooked, because in a cold cream it turns to grain within an hour.
Weigh the Nutella rather than spooning it. An eyeballed measure can be 2 oz (55 g) too generous, and the extra sugar and soft fat overwhelm the two gelatin sheets so the cake cannot hold a clean edge. If you want it sweeter, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar to the white cream instead.
The quarter teaspoon of salt in the cream is not optional. Nutella carries enough sugar that the palate stops registering the hazelnut after the first mouthful, and salt keeps the nut and the cocoa legible through the whole slice.
If the mascarpone splits while folding, showing grain and a greasy sheen, fold in two tablespoons of cold heavy cream at once.
Common Mistakes
Beating the mascarpone with a mixer. Fifteen seconds too long and the proteins release the fat, giving a grainy cream with butterfat weeping out. Use a spatula and fold.
Adding the Nutella cold or undiluted. Stiff and heavy, it shears into lumps or sinks to the base. Warm it to 95°F (35°C) and lighten it with the mascarpone cream before it goes in.
Marbling a third time, or too late. A third pass turns the cake one brown, and marbling after the gelatin has begun to take tears the veins into ragged flecks. Two passes, within minutes.
Boiling the gelatin milk. Above about 176°F (80°C) the gelatin loses gelling power, and with only two sheets there is no reserve. Warm it only until the sheets vanish.
Skipping the ten minute bake on the base. An unbaked base looks identical on the first evening and is damp by the second day, because nothing seals the crumb against the cream.
Pouring the glaze hot. Above about 105°F (40°C) it runs over the edge and melts a channel into the top. Let it cool to just above blood heat.
Wine Pairing
Moscato d'Asti DOCG: The Piedmontese answer to a Piedmontese flavor, and the lightest bottle that still stands up to this much sugar. Its gentle fizz scrubs the palate clean of fat after every forkful, and the low alcohol keeps a sweet wine beside a sweet cake from turning heavy. Orange blossom sits above the hazelnut rather than competing with it. Serve it well chilled, in small glasses.
Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG: A sweet aromatic red from the same corner of Piedmont, faintly sparkling and scented of rose petal and wild strawberry. Red fruit is the classic partner for cocoa, and it lifts the chocolate in the glaze without adding tannin, which would clash with dairy. Serve it at about 50°F (10°C).
Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG: For anyone who finds the two Piedmontese bottles too delicate. Made from dried Corvina grapes, it brings dried cherry and bitter almond depth with acidity underneath to cut a cream this fat. Its tannin is soft but present, and it suits the slice finished with flaky salt. Serve it at about 55°F (13°C).
Ramandolo DOCG: A Friulian Verduzzo from steep marl slopes, unusual among sweet whites for a faint tannic grip of its own. That grip scrapes the mascarpone fat away rather than sliding over it, while honey and dried apricot meet the caramel edge of the Nutella. It is a genuinely interesting choice beside a dessert most people pour Moscato with.
Storage & Reheating
This is a refrigerator cake and it lives there. Keep it in the springform ring, with film stretched across the tin rather than pressed onto the cream, at 39°F (4°C) for up to 3 days. The second day is best, when the flavors have settled. There is nothing to reheat, and warming any part of this dessert destroys it.
Cut slices keep worse than a whole cake. Press a small piece of parchment against each cut face before covering, which stops a skin forming and keeps out odors, since mascarpone absorbs them quickly.
The cake freezes whole and only without the glaze. Chill it fully, freeze it uncovered for an hour, wrap it in film and foil and hold it at 0°F (minus 18°C) for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then glaze. Do not freeze it once glazed, because the surface fat blooms grey on thawing.
Nutrition
Per serving, based on 10 slices from one 9 inch (23 cm) cake:
Calories: 720 kcal
Total Fat: 54 g
Saturated Fat: 27 g
Trans Fat: 0.3 g
Unsaturated Fat: 25 g
Cholesterol: 85 mg
Sodium: 195 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 48 g
Fiber: 3 g
Total Sugars: 33 g
Added Sugars: 29 g
Protein: 9 g
Lactose: 3.4 g
Principal micronutrients: calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin E, magnesium, copper, potassium, iron
These figures are estimates.
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