To unwind after my final exam of the test block last Friday, I spent the evening cruising through various foodie blogs to get back into the swing of things. Mandy over at Fresh from the Oven had just updated her blog with her review of a Nutella Cupcake recipe, and as soon as I saw the pictures, I knew that I had to try it out. I became a huge fan of Nutella while studying abroad in France, and ever since I came back to the States, I make sure that my pantry is stocked with some of the chocolate-hazelnut goodness. Unfortunately, I've been enjoying other sweets so my current jar of Nutella was nearing its expiration date. I thought these cupcakes would be a great way to use up the spread.
Ingredients:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 12 teaspoons Nutella
Then it was time for the dry ingredients. Now, the recipe called for sifted flour, but I really don't like to sift flour so I skipped this step. Instead I just skimped a bit on the flour, and this seemed to work out fine for me. However, if you're a perfectionist, then definitely sift the flour.
I just stirred in the flour, salt, and baking powder until the batter looked decently uniform. Next, I distributed the yellow cupcake batter into 12 cupcake tins lined with paper liners. This was a lot harder than it sounds because the batter was pretty thick for me. What was even harder was actually mixing in the Nutella. After dropping a teaspoon of Nutella onto each cupcake, I took a toothpick and swirled the spread into the cupcake batter. I had forgotten how thick Nutella was, so this step was extremely time consuming. Perhaps warm up the Nutella a bit before attempting this step; this might speed up the process. Once the Nutella was sufficiently mixed in and my forearms cried for a break after all that twisting and turning, I placed the cupcakes in the center of an oven preheated to 325 degrees F. After 20 minutes of baking, the cakes were ready to come out.
As with the pound cake, these cupcakes came out a little dry. Again, I think my oven is running a tad warm, so I'll have to use an oven thermometer for future baking adventures or at least cut back on the baking time. The taste of the cupcakes were all right. The cupcake part was a wee bland, but when I bit into the Nutella swirled part, it was fantastic! It was especially great when I bit into a gooey glob of Nutella; tasters seemed to really enjoy this so I would suggest not swirling the Nutella too much into the cupcakes. Leave little of pockets of Nutella to shock the tastebuds. I plan on making these cupcakes again, but perhaps with a different base.
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These cupcakes look sooo delicious! Nutella rules in our home - the kids (and the husband) eat it right out the jar with a spoon.
Thanks for sharing
Oh, I'm very happy to share! I hope you get a chance to try out this recipe and put the Nutella in your house to a different kind of use. I thought the cupcakes were pretty ingenious.
Whoa those look good! =] Glad to see you back on the blogging circuit. =] How's school going?
Jane
http://mywoodenrobot.org
I love your blog, so pretty!
Jane: School is going all right. The most recent test block was brutal, and I'm glad that it's over now. I'm glad to be back on the blogging circuit as well; I couldn't be away from you too long, could I? =P
Rebekka: Thank you! Considering that your blog is such a very lovely one, I really appreciate your comment.