Nutella Cake – The Birthday Recipe

About Us

Welcome to our little virtual corner! I’m a single mother raising my wonderful son, Ruben, who has grown into a remarkable teenager. For years, I was the sole breadwinner as a Krav Maga instructor, balancing the challenges of parenthood and work on my own.

When Ruben started kindergarten, I embarked on a new journey by studying healthcare management at Semmelweis University, specializing in health tourism management. After graduating, I began working in my field and experienced firsthand the tragic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as a healthcare manager in a state hospital.

As the pandemic subsided, I transitioned into private healthcare, where I currently work as a practice manager. Meanwhile, our family moved from a small town to Vác, a charming historic Danube riverside city near Budapest.

Here, we embrace the everyday moments and joys of life together. If you want to hear more stories about us, you’re warmly invited to visit the original Daysonpaper blog at S&Ru’s Diary on daysonpaper.blog.hu.

So I decided to try living for a year on an international stage and see if there are other mothers in similar shoes for whom this diary could be a support on the harder days—just as it has been a support for me when I was able to look beyond the difficulties and sincerely believe in my own strength.

Thank you for stopping by!

Over the years, it has become a tradition for us that Ru asks me to make a homemade cake for his birthday. As for this year: I will never forget the workday when, between two (three, five, ten…) other hospital duties, my colleague and I were browsing cake recipes to find that one perfect cake — the tastiest, the most impressive, and still doable within the boosted work morale that knows no afternoons, evenings, or weekends during COVID times. The task was not easy, but by the end of the day, we came up with a great idea: the Nutella cake!

Ingredients:

100 + 40 g brown sugar
10 g unsweetened cocoa powder
10 g (instant) coffee
165 g flour
0.75 dl oil
0.75 dl milk
2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
400 g Nutella (or another top-quality hazelnut spread with at least 12% hazelnuts)
700 g mascarpone

I mixed the larger pile of sugar with the egg yolks, oil, and milk. Then I added the dry ingredients, followed by the egg whites whipped stiff with the smaller pile of sugar. I poured the batter into a cake pan and baked it at 160°C with fan for 50 minutes. While it baked, I prepared the filling: I combined the mascarpone and Nutella in a bowl and put it in the fridge. (I changed clothes, washed my hair leaning over the bathtub, then) I took the cake out of the oven (while it cooled, I rushed to the hospital, completed my tasks, then with many apologies from me and birthday wishes from my colleagues, I hurried back). Then came the slicing of the cake, which I cut into three layers because of the smaller pan. I spread a third of the cream between each layer, then used the rest to decorate the top. This is the best part because you basically just pile all the kid’s favorite treats on top and pipe the filling from a nice piping bag.

A sigh of relief that it was ready on time, a little hairspray on my still damp hair, then I grabbed the cake plate on my hip and headed to grandma’s to place it in front of my son so that all his candles could fulfill his wishes…!