Description
Decadently rich Nutella Cupcakes featuring a moist chocolate base filled with creamy Nutella and topped with a luscious Nutella buttercream frosting. This recipe combines the deep flavors of chocolate, coffee, and hazelnut spread into a delightful treat perfect for any chocolate lover.
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- 50 g Whole milk
- 50 g Granulated sugar
- 40 g Egg yolk (approx. 2 yolks)
- 12 g Corn starch
- 12 g All purpose flour
- 25 g Dark chocolate (semi-sweet, finely chopped)
Nutella Frosting
- 75 g Nutella
- 75 g Unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 8 g Unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
Chocolate Cupcake Batter
- 90 g Unsalted butter (soft, room temperature)
- 100 g Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg (room temperature)
- 80 g All purpose flour
- 45 g Cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 65 g Whole milk (room temperature)
- 60 g Coffee (room temperature)
- 1/2 teaspoon White vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
Filling and Decoration
- 80 g Nutella (gently melted for filling)
- Hazelnuts (for decorating)
Instructions
- Make the Pastry Cream: In a bowl, whisk sugar and egg yolks until slightly fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in corn starch and flour until smooth paste forms.
- Heat Milk: Warm milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers.
- Combine Milk and Egg Mixture: Slowly pour warm milk over egg yolk mixture while whisking vigorously to temper the eggs. Return mixture to saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens and just boils, about 1 minute. Keep whisking to prevent lumps, resulting in a smooth, glossy cream.
- Add Chocolate: Incorporate chocolate in three stages using a rubber spatula until fully melted and mixed. Transfer to a shallow bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin, and cool to room temperature.
- Prepare Frosting: Whip butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add cocoa powder and Nutella and whip for 1-2 minutes.
- Combine Frosting and Pastry Cream: Gradually add cooled pastry cream to frosting in four additions, whipping until stable and fluffy but not runny. Chill the frosting while preparing cupcakes.
- Preheat Oven: Set oven to 175°C (347°F).
- Make Cupcake Batter: Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg but do not overmix.
- Sift Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Keep milk and coffee mixture as wet ingredients.
- Mix Batter: Add ingredients alternately in four steps to the batter: wet, dry, wet, dry; folding gently with a rubber spatula each time.
- Add Leavening Mix: Mix vinegar and baking soda in a small bowl until bubbly and immediately fold into batter to keep cupcakes soft without vinegar taste.
- Fill Cupcake Pan: Spoon or pipe batter into cupcake molds filling about ¾ full. This recipe yields 6 large cupcakes.
- Bake: Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
- Fill Cupcakes: Make a small hole in each cooled cupcake and fill with gently warmed Nutella for smooth, runny filling.
- Frost Cupcakes: Pipe chilled Nutella frosting on top of each cupcake.
- Decorate: Garnish with hazelnuts as desired.
- Storage: Store cupcakes refrigerated for 2-3 days to maintain freshness.
Notes
- Ensure all room temperature ingredients are truly at room temperature for best mixing and texture.
- Tempering eggs with warm milk prevents curdling in the pastry cream.
- The baking soda and vinegar reaction makes cupcakes soft and moist for days.
- Cover pastry cream surface with plastic wrap tightly to prevent a skin from forming.
- Do not over whip the frosting once the pastry cream is added to avoid a runny texture.
- Gently warming Nutella before filling improves texture and ease of filling.
- Use high-quality dark chocolate for the best flavor in the pastry cream.
