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My Nutella mousse cake features a fudgy brownie base, silky mousse center, and an amazing Nutella ganache. This tastes better than anything you'll find at your local bakery!

a Nutella mousse cake with a brownie base, Nutella mousse, and Nutella ganache topped with chocolate curls.

I love Nutella desserts like my Nutella cheesecake, my Nutella brownies, and of course these Nutella cupcakes. This Nutella Mousse Cake is what happens when I can't decide between chocolate, brownies, and mousse! It's ideal for make-ahead entertaining since it has to sit overnight.

Why This Recipe Works: A Sprinkle of Food Science

It Uses Gelatin in the Mousse: This stabilizes it so it doesn't collapse or become runny.
We Strain The Mousse: This makes it silky smooth just like what you'd get at your fave fine dining restaurant.

Ingredient Notes and Shopping Tips

ingredients including Nutella, sugar, butter, eggs, flour, cocoa, vanilla, gelatin, and whipping cream.

Nutella: This recipe has tested with brand name Nutella. Other brands may have different fat content or ingredients that could affect how the mousse turns out. Use at your own risk. The large 35 ounces is the best bang for your buck here.
Heavy Cream: Be sure to use heavy cream not half and half. We need at least 36% fat. Avoid products labeled whipped cream which can contain stabilizers that don't behave well in our mousse.
- To make it easier to whip make sure cream is ice cold and chill your mixing bowl and beaters or whisk as well.
Gelatin: Knox is my go to brand.
Cocoa: I used Hershey's but any natural (not Dutch process) cocoa will work. It gives the brownies a rich chocolate flavor and fudgy texture.
Eggs: Bring to room temperature to prevent the Nutella mixture from seizing. 30 minutes on the counter is perfect or pop them in a glass of warm water if you're crunched for time.
Butter: I prefer unsalted butter so we can control the amount of salt in the recipe. The salt in salted butter varies from brand to brand. If you only have salted butter you can just leave out the extra salt.

a 4 image college showing how to make the brownie base, Nutella mousse, bloom gelatin, and mix gelatin into mousse.

Krystle's Tips: Steal My Culinary School Secrets

Don't Skip Blooming the Gelatin: Make sure it sits in the cold water for a full 5 minutes to help is soften so it fully dissolved when mixed. Warm water will make it lumpy. Undissolved gelatin can create streaks or rubbery bits.
Cool Down: Make sure you cool down the brownie mixture before adding the eggs so they do not scramble.
Don't Rush: Always refrigerate the mousse layer overnight to prevent the layers from becoming one.
Don't Overbake: It's okay if the toothpick has some moist crumbs for the fudgy brownie layer. If it comes out completely clean it may be overbaked and dry.
Strain Though a Fine Mesh Sieve: Do this before adding the whipped cream to catch any undissolved gelatin for a super silky mousse.