A Discovered Love

There are a lot of things I love. . . things such as books, writing, green, John Deere, Germany, and much, much more! One discovery of love that I have gained though came to me while serving my mission in Germany.
I remember when I was first introduced to Nutella. . . It was my first semester at BYU-Idaho and I was over at some guys apartment. We were having a good time when one of them asked me to try Nutella. I was skeptical at first, but he went ahead and handed me a piece of bread with this creamy chocolate stuff spread all over it. I put it to my mouth and GROSS! I did not like that stuff at all. . . it had a weird taste to me and I was not going to finish the rest of my bread.
Two years later I left for Germany. . . my first companion had a crazy love for Chocolate and once again put my taste buds to the taste as I had Nutella for the second time. This time things were different. . . I LOVED IT! Now that love has grown to a discovery of new things to try. . .Through out my mission I started adding Nutella to cookies and cakes, banana bread and more. I had discovered a new Love.

So now that I have this love I would love to share it with others and that is through recipes. I am on a journey to discover more and more Nutella recipes to try and share it with y'all. A few weeks ago we had the missionaries over for dinner and I made a Banana Cake with Nutella and Cream Cheese Frosting: ENJOY!

For the Cake

• 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar 
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2/3 cup buttermilk

For the Nutella Frosting

• 3 heaping tablespoons of Nutella
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 1/2 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup of butter

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 1/2 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup of butter

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8 inch round cake pans and dust them with flour. ( Instead I cut out two circles of wax paper and put them on the bottom of the pan. . you can choose what you would like to do).
2. Sift flours, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl and set aside.
3. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Beat  in the eggs until incorporated. Next, add the mashed bananas, vanilla and buttermilk. Beat until incorporated. Add about half of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
4. Evenly divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for about 40 or plus minutes (until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, if the cake sinks then it was not finished). Cool the cake layers to room temperature.
5. To prepare the Nutella frosting, combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. Set aside.
6. Repeat step five (omitting the Nutella) to make the cream cheese frosting.
7. To assemble: place one cake layer flat side up on a serving platter. Frost evenly with the Nutella frosting. Top with the second cake layer. Spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the top. ( You may sprinkly the top with hazel nuts or toffee or anything else you thing would be good. . it is up to you).