Nutella Napoleon - flaky layers of puff pastry filled with nutty Nutella cream - a decadent dessert that's easy to make.
- 2 sheets of puff pastry 1 lbs
- 2.5 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese 1 1/2 packets
- 1/2 cup Nutella spread
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Transfer the baked sheet to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Now bake rest of the puff pastry sheets.
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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.
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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.
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Take away about 1 – 1/2 cups of frosting and refrigerate until ready to decorate tomorrow.
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Put a dab of cream on the serving platter/carton and spread a round a bit. This will keep the cake from sliding.
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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.
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After refrigerating the cake overnight, trim the sides all around with a sharp knife.
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Cut it 3 pieces along the narrower side of the cake
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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.
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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).
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Now drape the bags over a glass and fill with frosting.
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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).
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Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.