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Nutella Napoleon Recipe

Three nutella napoleon bars with ferrero rochers beside the bars.

 

 

It’s kind of hard to top a good old fashioned Napoleon cake. You know, gazillion layers of flaky pastry layered with sweet custard and all that jazz. But as hard as it might be to believe, I think this recipe is even better than the Best Napoleon Ever. After all, Ferrero Rocher candies and Nutella are involved and when has a Ferrero Rocher or Nutella ever ruined anything? I know, never.

Side view of nutella napoleon bars topped with ferrero rochers on a marble counter top.

Several days ago, I posted a picture of someone making the Mikado cake following my recipe. Remembering the flavor of that cake made my head spin. I needed a slice a.s.a.p, in order to continue being a functional member of society. That cake is made of homemade sour cream based quick puff pastry layers. But, I had no intention of making those from scratch this time. I had some sheets of puff pastry in the freezer and I planned to use them instead. For the cream, the Mikado cake uses chocolate custard based buttercream and even that was a more elaborate process than I was wanting to go through for this cake. Shortcuts, shortcuts, shortcuts people!

 Top view of nutella napoleon bar topped with ferrero rochers.

As I was making myself some tea that morning, I opened the cupboard and saw a jar of Nutella sitting on a shelf and that’s when it hit me. I am going to make a Napoleon with Nutella Cream which will taste like the Ferrero Rocher Candy! With pre-made sheets of puff pastry and an easy alternative to the chocolate custard based buttercream I had the cake ready and assembled in about 45 minutes and that’s only because the cake layers take about 15 minutes to bake, otherwise, I could have had this cake in minutes. Even though it looks fancy with decorative piping on top and all (the piping is very optional) there’s really nothing fancy or hard about this cake. I like easy and delicious and you will too!

Ferrero Rocher Napoleon

  • puff pastry (1 lbs)

How to Bake the Nutella Napoleon Cake Layers:

Preheat oven to 425F.Place the thawed puff pastry sheet on a well-floured surface and roll it out to about the size of your jelly roll pan.

Transfer the rolled out sheet to an upside-down jelly roll baking pan and cover with one more jelly roll sheet (leaving the top baking sheet the right side up) just like the picture below.

How to transfer the rolled out sheet to an upside-down jelly roll baking pan and cover with one more jelly roll sheet side up. Nutella Napoleon - flaky layers of puff pastry filled with nutty Nutella cream - a decadent dessert that's easy to make. | @Letthebakingbgn | LetTheBakingBeginBlog.com

Bake for about 10 minutes and rotate the baking sheets 180 degrees, then bake another 2-5 minutes until the puff pastry sheet is well-baked through and golden. Watch it very closely as it goes from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds.

Transfer the baked sheet to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Now bake rest of the puff pastry sheets.
Once the sheets are cooled, cut them in half. Putting a baking sheet on the halfway mark and going along the edge is the easiest way to do that. Trim the other end of each half to make it even. Cut and trim the rest of the cake layers. You should have 4 halves.
Set aside and make the Nutella Cream.

How to cut puff pastry sheet into four halves.

Nutella Cream:

  • heavy cream
  • sugar
  • cream cheese (1 1/2 packets)
  • Nutella spread
  • cocoa powder
  • vanilla extract

Bowl of heavy cream, sugar, cream cheese, nutella spread, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract in a wooden tray.

How to make the Nutella Cream:

  1. In a bowl of a mixer whip together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and the cocoa powder until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl several times throughout the process. Add the heavy cream and whip again for until well combined and increased in volume, but not yet stiff. Add Nutella and whip again until no streaks of Nutella are seen.

How to make nutella cream by adding all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixing.

Assembly:

  • Take away about 1 – 1/2 cups of frosting and refrigerate until ready to decorate tomorrow.
  • Put a dab of cream on the serving platter/carton and spread a round a bit. This will keep the cake from sliding.
  • Put the first layer of baked puff pastry and press to adhere. Add 1/6th of the frosting and spread around into an even layer. Continue layering puff pastry layers and cream until all are gone, frosting the last one on the top as well.

How to assemble cake by adding puff pastry layers and spreading nutella cream on each layer.

  • After refrigerating the cake overnight, trim the sides all around with a sharp knife.
  • Cut it 3 pieces along the narrower side of the cake
  • Then along the wider side, cut it into 5 equal strips giving you a total of 15 pieces. An electronic carving knife or a sharp thin knife dipped in hot water (to make the knife hot) and then wiped clean works the best.

Cake that is being cut again along the wider side into 5 equal strips.

  • Fit one sandwich bag into another, then fit the two bags with a star piping tip (two bags keep the corner from being stretched too much and letting the piping tip slide out).
  • Now drape the bags over a glass and fill with frosting.
  • Close the ziplock bags and pipe the cream in repetitive S shapes or any other design you would like on top of each piece of cake. Top with whole or halved Ferrero Rocher candies. (optional).

Five nutella napoleon bars with nutella topping and six nutella napoleon bars without nutella toppings on a baking tray.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

And you’re all done my friends. Now invite some friends, brew a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Try these other Dessert recipes:

Ferrero Rocher Napoleon

0 from 0 votes

Nutella Napoleon - flaky layers of puff pastry filled with nutty Nutella cream - a decadent dessert that's easy to make.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Keyword: napoleon cake
Calories: 453 kcal
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 15 servings

Ingredients

Ferrero Rocher Napoleon

  • 2 sheets of puff pastry 1 lbs

Nutella Cream:

Instructions

How to Bake the Nutella Napoleon Cake Layers:

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.Place the thawed puff pastry sheet on a well-floured surface and roll it out to about the size of your jelly roll pan.

  2. Transfer the rolled out sheet to an upside down jelly roll baking pan and cover with one more jelly roll sheet (leaving the top baking sheet the right side up) just like the picture below.
  3. Bake for about 10 minutes and rotate the baking sheets 180 degrees, then bake another 2-5 minutes until the puff pastry sheet is well baked through and golden. Watch it very closely as it goes from golden to burnt in a matter of seconds.
  4. Transfer the baked sheet to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Now bake rest of the puff pastry sheets.
  5. Once the sheets are cooled, cut them in half. Putting a baking sheet on the halfway mark and going along the edge is the easiest way to do that. Trim the other end of each half to make it even. Cut and trim the rest of the cake layers. You should have 4 halves. Set aside and make the Nutella Cream.

How to make the Nutella Cream

  1. In a bowl of a mixer whip together 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 cup cocoa powder until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl several times throughout the process. Add 2½ cups heavy cream and whip again for until well combined and increased in volume, but not yet stiff. Add 1/2 cup Nutella and whip again until no streaks of Nutella are seen.

Assembly:

  1. Take away about 1 – 1/2 cups of frosting and refrigerate until ready to decorate tomorrow.
  2. Put a dab of cream on the serving platter/carton and spread a round a bit. This will keep the cake from sliding.
  3. Put the first layer of baked puff pastry and press to adhere. Add 1/6th of the frosting and spread around into an even layer. Continue layering puff pastry layers and cream until all are gone, frosting the last one on the top as well.
  4. After refrigerating the cake overnight, trim the sides all around with a sharp knife.
  5. Cut it 3 pieces along the narrower side of the cake
  6. Then along the wider side, cut it into 5 equal strips giving you a total of 15 pieces. An electronic carving knife or a sharp thin knife dipped in hot water (to make the knife hot) and then wiped clean works the best.
  7. Fit one sandwich bag into another, then fit the two bags with a star piping tip (two bags keep the corner from being stretched too much and letting the piping tip slide out).
  8. Now drape the bags over a glass and fill with frosting.
  9. Close the ziplock bags and pipe the cream in repetitive S shapes or any other design you would like on top of each piece of cake. Top with whole or halved Ferrero Rocher candies. (optional).
  10. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Nutrition Facts
Ferrero Rocher Napoleon
Amount Per Serving
Calories 453 Calories from Fat 315
% Daily Value*
Fat 35g54%
Saturated Fat 18g113%
Cholesterol 70mg23%
Sodium 149mg6%
Potassium 133mg4%
Carbohydrates 30g10%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 12g13%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 785IU16%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 57mg6%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Nutella Napoleon - flaky layers of puff pastry filled with nutty Nutella cream - a decadent dessert that's easy to make. | @Letthebakingbgn | LetTheBakingBeginBlog.com

Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Elena Kolyesnykova

    Hi. So you bake with one baking sheet on top of the other? How does it bake through then? Instructions are a bit confusing. Please clarify. Also did u end up using 3 puff pastry sheets to make 6 layers? Or do u only have 4 layers? Thanks. Want to make next week.

    · Reply
    • Hi Elena,
      Yes, the dough is baked with a bake sheet on both sides. That’s what keeps the layers so flat and not puff up.

      · Reply
  • Monina

    Thank you for the recipe. It’s delicious.
    I have made 2 of your recipes. The King of Napoleon and the Natella Napoleon.
    I was able to print the King of Napoleon recipe but could not find a print for the Nutella. Therefore, I typed all the instructions and printed a small picture and taped it on top of Nutella recipe for my file.

    .

    · Reply
    • Hi Monina,
      I made it easy for the future printing 😀 I Added the print-friendly version of this recipe too 🙂

      · Reply
  • Lana

    Do you have a printable recipe for this? It looks so yummy!

    · Reply
  • marina

    Does it stay crispy overnight? Or should I serve same day if I want it to be on the crispy side?

    · Reply
  • mikzgirl

    Could the cream cheese be substituted for something else?

    · Reply
    • This cream kind of needs the cream cheese to thicken the cream. I am not sure what can be used instead to perform the same function….

      · Reply
  • Jill Simmons

    I’m confused. It says to use two puff pastry sheets then it says to cut each one in half which would give you four halves, but the instructions say you will have 6 halves. Am I misunderstanding the instructions? Because it says up there 2 sheets of puff pastry. Two sheets cut in half would be four not six. I want to try this recipe because it looks fantastic.

    · Reply
  • marianna

    I am missing the link or is there no print this recipe option for this cake?

    · Reply
  • vikalinkafood

    Oh I love what you’ve done and especially the fact that you took shortcuts, pure brilliance. This Napoleon looks gorgeous, Marina!

    · Reply
  • Inna

    Nutella makes my heart sing:) so pretty sure I have to make this cake soon…

    · Reply
  • Tatyana

    My mouth is watering just looking at this… 🙂

    · Reply

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