Nutella Madness Cupcakes or Nutella Birthday Cake

Tuesday, January 5, 2010



Updated on April 25th 2010....Nutella Birthday Cake, use same recipe below, just hollow out the middle of the bundt, fill, frost, spread some Nutella over the ganache and add candy topping!




I was inspired by my dear mom who loved hazelnuts, my grandmother, whose last name was Ferraro,(both long since have past on) and now my son Curt is a huge Nutella fan, and usually takes every jar he see's when visiting me. So this time this jar didn't get away.

So, here is goes, inside of this cupcake is a creamy Nutella filling, with crushed
hazelnuts, butter and rice krispie filling. The chocolate scratch cake is dark fudge. The topping is ganache with Ferraro Rocher crumbled on top. So you can see this isn't your average easy to name confection.



I cut open one of the cupcakes so you can see the rich decadent filling, with crushed hazelnuts and Nutella inside. A fluffy yet slightly crunchy delight.


The ganache with a semi sweet chocolate and heavy cream is smooth and delicious on top.




Who could go wrong with this wonderful delicious candy!



Ganache at its finest....I used Lindt Chocolate for this.




Take a sharp knife and cut a round circle in each center to fill each cupcake with filling



I used a baby teaspoon to fill each one which was easier to fill, or you can use a parchment bag and fill each one.


The filling is light but dense with flavor!




The dark chocolate cupcakes are a perfect match for this hazelnut filling and ganache topping.






8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces good grade bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup dutch style processed cocoa
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream

heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan.
Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Microwave till melted and smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside to cool, to luke warm.
Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.
Beat eggs in bowl. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt,beat till fluffy. Add cooled chocolate mixture and beat until well combined. Add flour and sour cream beat till everything is well combined.

Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Cut centers out, fill with filling below. Top with ganache frosting. Crumble Ferarro Rocher Candy on top of ganache.
Filling:
4 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts and 1/2 cup whole ones for the top of the cupcakes 1/2 cup of Nutella
1 1/2 cups of rice krispies crushed or put in food processor 30 to 40 seconds
2 to 3 tablespoon of heavy cream
1 cup of confectionery sugar
Mix butter and Nutella together until well blended. Add confectionery sugar rice krispies, mix together and add the heavy cream until a smooth filling not running but thick and spoonable. Fill hollowed out cupcakes with the filling.

Ganache Topping
2 cups of semi-sweet good grade chocolate
3/4 cup of heavy cream
Heat cream in microwave till boiling, remove add chips keep stirring until chips are all melted. If you want this to be a more like just frosting, cool for 20 minutes before spreading, otherwise I put this on while hot and let it drip down the sides.
Add crushed Ferarro Rocher candies on the top of the cupcakes after you have put the ganache on them.