• Heat your oven to 350°F.
• Grease cake pans with oil or butter and dust with flour. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
• Stir in hot water or coffee (batter will be thin).
• Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.
• Bake until the tops are smooth and slightly domed, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. For three 7" pans, bake for about 30 minutes. Adjust time based on your pan size.
• Cool completely before frosting. Let cakes cool at room temperature, then wrap in plastic and freeze until firm (30 minutes or up to a few days).

Prepare the frosting:

• Chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 5 minutes to help the cream whip faster.
• Pour heavy cream into the chilled bowl and beat until it starts to thicken. Gradually add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar while mixing. Continue beating until the cream is fluffy.
• Transfer whipped cream to another bowl and refrigerate.
• In the same mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
• Add the remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar and mix well.
• Blend in the hazelnut spread and vanilla.
• Add a scoop (about 1 cup) of whipped cream to the hazelnut mixture and blend slowly.
• Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently with a spatula.
• Frost your cooled cake as desired. There should be plenty of frosting for decoration. Freeze the frosted cake if you plan to add a chocolate glaze.

Garnish:

• For a chocolate hazelnut glaze, combine 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons of hazelnut spread in a bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time until mostly melted. Stir to combine.
• Cool slightly, then pour over the frosted, chilled cake. Spread almost to the edge and top with chopped hazelnuts.
• If desired, use remaining frosting in a piping bag with a 1M tip to add decorative swirls around the top. Top each swirl with a whole hazelnut.
• Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.