Chocolate Cake and Nutella Buttercream Frosting

I'm just going to put this out there. I don't do cake and frosting. Not meaning I don't eat it, no I could eat it three meals a day. I mean I have the worst track record when it comes to making them from scratch. I had a slight panic attack in the middle of the baking aisle of Pak n' Save when we first moved to New Zealand and I discovered there was no such thing as Duncan Hines. I had a lot of trial and errors (read: lots of trials and all errors) until my friend here took pity on me and passed on her no fail chocolate cake recipe. It is so easy, we're talking just dump it all in a bowl and mix together. No sifting, no creaming, no nothing. And it turns out perfect every.single.time. Perfectly fluffy, perfectly moist and perfectly divine. Once that was mastered I still had the frosting to tackle. Every recipe had at least one fatal flaw (most likely I was that one fatal flaw) until I came across this Nutella frosting recipe, it was the perfect marriage of texture and flavor. A match made in heaven. It's a good thing my kids are all a fan (that might be an understatement, they lick every last crumb off the cupcake liners) because they have no other choice when it comes to their birthday cake, it's this or nothing at all. Seriously, it's delicious and fool proof, you can't go wrong!

Chocolate cake:

2 C flour
2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ C cocoa
½ c butter
1 C water
1 C milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Put everything in a bowl and mix until combined. For 9x13 or 2 8-inch round cakes bake for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. For cupcakes fill liners half full (approximately 30 cupcakes) and bake for 15-17 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (be careful not to overcook or it will be too dry).

Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 13-ounce jar of Nutella
1/8 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/2 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and Nutella until well combined, thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended. Add salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional confectioners sugar or  cream if needed to reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Wait until cake is completely cool before frosting.

*source: cake from my friend Julie and frosting adapted from www.mybakingaddiction.com