Nutella Layered Pound Cake

My sister and I used to make pound cake from a box mix when we were growing up. It was our favorite dessert. I never thought that pound cake needed frosting because it's already so rich and sweet. But let's face it, Nutella makes everything better! I discovered Nutella in Europe almost 15 years ago and since then it's been a love-hate relationship...loving it when I have a jar of it, hating it when my pants are tight in the waistline a week later. The great thing about it for this dessert is that unlike regular frosting, it's thickness holds up to the dense pound cake.

*It's best to bake the pound cake the day/night before you plan to serve it - so it's completely cool before you layer it with Nutella.

Pound Cake:

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla (add another 1/2 tsp for extra vanilla-ness!)
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 small jar of Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla together on medium until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating mixture after each.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.

5. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, beating after each addition. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

6. Pour batter into a loaf pan (large) and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. When finished baking, let the pound cake cool completely (overnight if possible).

Assembly:

Once cooled and removed from the loaf pan. Cut the pound cake horizontally into thirds (lengthwise). Spread about 1/4 inch of Nutella on the bottom layer and place the next section of pound cake on top. Spread more Nutella on the 2nd layer and place the top of the pound cake on top.

To serve, cut vertical pieces so that each slice has two layers of Nutella. For extra goodness, serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.