Super Happy Family Nutella Meringue Wish Cake! (Part 1: the Journey begins... with the longest title ever)

I have developed a terrible, terrible, terrible vice since I moved to Belgium. I have become a Nutella fiend. It was pretty bad near the beginning. I would buy a 350g jar, spread it on crispy bread roll thingies (I have never seen them anywhere else, like really small bread rolls (5 cm long rolls that are cut in half and are... crispy), or crackers.. and eventually, once I ran out of the things to spread it on... I- I- I would... use a spoon [breaks down crying].

I learned to cope with my affliction. The key was not buying it when I went to the shop. As long as I followed this simple one-step program, things were fine.

But, of course, some days were harder than others... On those days I, well, I generally sobbed myself to sleep, cradling myself in Nutella smeared hands.

I decided, that when prevention failed, perhaps I could "manage" it.

Since I am wont to throw whatever I have handy into a cookies mix, I decided I would make some Nutella cookies. I did a Google and found this fantastic baking blog. I followed the recipe and it worked out well. Although, I suspect that the tastiest parts of the Nutella spread - the quintessence of Nutella, the true Nutellaness/Nutella-ality - were volatile organic molecules because the cookies don't have the same kick at all.

Next, I dumped Nutella into a cake mix. I used that standard base that I previously cited... huh, it appears, I've never listed it before:

125g sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
200g self-raising flour
a bit of milk¹

So I spooned lots (um... 5 tblsp?) of Nutella into the mix, and then I threw in some Maltesers. I had really hoped that the Maltesers wouldn't dissolve (just think of it! Maltesers in a cake!).

Unfortunately, the maltesers dissolved and were barely palatable in the end product.

So there I was, faced with a challenge - could I keep the Maltesers intact?

Stay tuned for my next post!
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¹I usually melt the butter, add the sugar and eggs (letting the butter cool a bit in case it is hot enough to partially cook the eggs). Then sieve in the flour bit by bit a-mixing all the way. Then 50mLs of milk or there abouts. Preheat oven to 180°C, and leave it until it smells edible/a toothpick through the centre of it comes out without any batter stuck to it. I'm loath to use just this.

Generally, I'll throw in some cocoa powder to colour/put some flavour in.

Sometimes I'll go for a marbled effect, split the batter in two, one half cocoa, the other plain.

You can throw in some fruit (strawberries, peaches, raisins, apples, mango... but never grapes. Never.). What worked out nicely, was putting in sliced apples that I had rolled in cocoa before hand.

Something that just occurred to me was using nutmeg and/or cinnamon with plain mix and some raisins.