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Hey you guuuuuys!  I'm back!  My apologies for missing a post last week - some of my besties came into town to celebrate a good friend's wedding and with all the craziness, baking was just not going to happen.  But I'm back in the game now and as an apology to all my dedicated readers (ha ha) I've decided to make some cupcakes with one of my favorite ingredients ever.

Spreads are a wonderful invention.  What do I mean by "spreads" you ask?  Peanut butter.  Cookie butter (run to Trader Joe's if you've never tried it...seriously.  Run.)  And....drum roll please....Nutella!  Oh baby, Nutella.  Nutella is this wonderful hazelnutty slash chocolatey concoction and is so good there just so happens to be a World Nutella Day (February 5th for those who are curious).  You can stick it on just about anything but I chose a really good chocolate cupcake that isn't overly sweet.  Then I went about cramming as much Nutella as I could fit into a mini-cupcake.  It wasn't easy, but my friends, I believe I have succeeded!

The only thing I wasn't too overly happy with was the Nutella Swiss Merengue Buttercream I made.  Don't get me wrong - stuff was addicting!  However, Boston was having a heat wave this past weekend and the kitchen was brutal.  My buttercream was not as structured as it usually is and I have a feeling the culprit was too-melty Nutella.  My first suggestion would be opting not to torture yourself and baking on such a hot day...my mother questioned my sanity when she heard what I was doing.  If you really have no other choice, keep the Nutella in the refrigerator for just a short amount of time.  You don't want it to harden in the fridge yet you don't want it to melt in heat of the day.  It's tough trying to find the balance, but I would probably be much happier with the result had I thought far enough in advance to do this!

Chocolate Cupcake adapted from Alice Medrich
Yield: ~ 36-40 pooncakes

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons instant coffee

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and warm

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350° and line your cupcake tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In another bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, vanilla, and butter.  I let the eggs “break” up a bit first then added the vanilla and lastly drizzled in the warm butter as the mixer was going.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.

Scrape down the bowl and pour in half of the hot coffee.  Beat for about 20 seconds, then add the remaining coffee and beat for another 20 seconds.  The batter will be quite thin and pourable.

Fill the liners about ⅔ full and bake in oven for 15-18 minutes depending on your oven.  The top of the cupcake will not be sticky and you’ll get a good spring back when they are done.  Remove the cupcakes from the tins and onto a cooling rack as soon as possible and allow to cool completely.

As an extra Nutella bonus, I cored out the center of the cupcakes with an apple corer and piped in some good old plain Nutella.  Because the cupcakes are mini, this does not end up being a lot of Nutella in the grand scheme of things - about ½ cup total.  You can also use a piping tip or a ¼ teaspoon to carve out the hole as well.  The "discards" are for whatever your heart desires.


Nutella Swiss Merengue Buttercream

5 large egg whites
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoons
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup Nutella

Note:  You will also need a candy thermometer and a double boiler.  To set up a double boiler, add about an inch of water to a small saucepan.  Allow the water to come up to a simmer, but do not let it boil.  This mixing bowl sits on top of the saucepan.

In a medium bowl or the bowl of a standup mixer, mix together the egg whites and sugar.  Place the bowl on top of the saucepan and bring the temperature of the mixture up to 150° degrees, whisking constantly.

Transfer to the standup mixer.  With the whisk attachment fitted, whisk the egg whites on medium speed.  The volume will eventually double.  Let the bowl cool to room temperature, then begin adding the butter one piece at a time and allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next.  There's a possibility the whole thing may curdle and look like cottage cheese.  Do not fret!  Keep mixing and it'll eventually smooth out again.  Add the salt, vanilla extract, and Nutella and mix.  Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes.

This batch will make more than enough buttercream - about double - than what you will need for the cupcake recipe above.  You can either double the cupcake recipe or save the buttercream for another time.  Sweetapolita does a great step-by-step picture tutorial and includes tips on saving swiss merengue buttercream for when the craving hits!


Tiffany