Chocolate cake with Nutella and strawberries

Instructions

• 1
  Line the bottoms of two cake pans with a diameter of 25 to 26 cm with baking paper and grease the sides with butter and dust with cocoa powder.
• 2
  Sift the flour with cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• 3
  Cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one by one. Finally, while continuously stirring, alternately add sour cream and dry ingredients by the spoonful. A thick batter will form. Divide it in half and spread each half evenly into the prepared cake pans. Smooth the surface and bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C. After baking, let cool in the pans on a wire rack. Remove the cooled cake layers from the pans.
• 4
  Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, stir well, and let cool slightly.
• 5
  Whip the mascarpone with Nutella into a smooth cream, then beat in the chocolate by the spoonful. Chill the cream in the refrigerator for a while.
• 6
  Whip the mascarpone with cream and sugar into a cream. Gradually increase the speed while whipping. But be careful not to over-whip the cream, or it will curdle.
• 7
  Rinse the strawberries, hull half of them, and cut all of them in half. Finely chop five basil leaves.
• 8
  Place one cake layer on a cake stand, spread half of the Nutella cream over it, then half of the cream cheese frosting, and arrange the hulled strawberries on top, sprinkling with chopped basil. Cover with the second cake layer and repeat the entire process. Decorate the top with strawberries with stems and whole basil leaves.