For my co-resident’s birthday I wanted to surprise her with a special treat. She loves cupcakes, and is a choc-o-holic….therefore, I knew this cupcake would be the perfect combination and exactly what she would want for her special day. The chocolate cupcake was filled with Nutella, covered in a whipped layer of with Nutella buttercream frosting and topped with a Ferrero Rocher hazelnut candy. These cupcakes are rich, with complex flavors of chocolate and hazelnut…an amazing and delicious duo that is ideal for any chocolate lover.
These cupcakes are not only decadent, they look amazing and will impress all of your friends…they will never believe how easy this beautiful create really is. I almost felt like I was cheating since the cake batter foundation was from a BOX!!! That is not normally in my vocabulary..and never in my pantry…but I decided to try it. With the addition of espresso, sour cream and lots of vanilla extract..no one will ever guess that it is a box mix. (Don’t judge me for it…they are worth it!)
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon coffee granules dissolved in ½ cup warm water or 1 esspresso shot dissolved in warm water (amounting to ½ cup of liquid)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 13-ounce jar of Nutella
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1.5 pounds confectioners’ sugar
- 6-8 tablespoons milk
- 24 Ferrero Rocher candies
- melted chocolate for drizzling
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin wells with paper liners.
- Beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and instant coffee mixture until well combined.
- Distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells. (I like to use an ice cream scoop)
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched.
- Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening until well combined, thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.
- Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened.
- Add an additional 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency.
- Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Set aside ¼ of the mixture to use as the vanilla buttercream.
- Add the Nutella to the remaining mixture and beat for another 3 minutes.
- Bake chocolate cupcakes and allow them to cool completely.
- Pipe Nutella into the center of each cupcake, you can also, hollow out the center with apple corer if you don’t have the appropriate piping tip.
- Prepare the Nutella Buttercream, reserving ¼ of the vanilla buttercream before adding the Nutella.
- Prepare a piping bag with a round tip, and fill with Nutella buttercream.
- Prepare a piping bag with a star tip, and fill with vanilla buttercream.
- Pipe a swirl of Nutella buttercream on each cupcake, and drizzle with melted chocolate.
- Top with a swirl of vanilla buttercream and a Ferrero Rocher.
These cupcakes look gorgeous. I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.
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