Servings
16Cook
18 minThese cupcakes have a hidden centre of Nutella ganache. I have made small cupcakes here but you could make them full size. I also added some blue food colouring, as I made them for a new mum of a baby boy, and a little bit of pink sparkle sugar to some of them for baby’s big sister.
Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcake
INGREDIENTS
For the Cupcakes
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100ml sunflower oil
- 55ml buttermilk
- 100g self-raising flour
- 30g cocoa powder
For the Hazelnut Ganache Core
- 100g Nutella
- 60ml double cream
For the Swiss Buttercream
- 2 egg whites, about 80ml
- 165g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1½ tsp vanilla essence
- 200g unsalted butter, cubed and softened
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Line two muffin trays with 16 small cupcake liners.
- For the cupcakes place the eggs and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk until pale and fluffy.
- In a jug beat together the oil and buttermilk and slowly beat into the egg mixture until combined.
- Sift over the flour and cocoa powder and fold into the batter with a large wire whisk until just incorporated. To keep the cakes light try not to over mix.
- Divide the mixture between the cases filling them about two thirds full.
- Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 16 – 18 minutes, until well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring the cakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the filling, heat the Nutella in a microwavable bowl until warm and liquid. Stir in the cream and leave to cool.
- Using an apple corer, remove a small plug from the centre of each cake. Spoon or pipe the Nutella ganache into each hole and replacing some of the removed cake to form a lid.
- To make the Frosting, place the egg whites into a large heatproof bowl and suspend the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Be careful not to let the bowl touch the water.
- Add the sugar and a pinch of salt and using an electric hand whisk, whisk the mixture until hot to the touch and a sugar thermometer reads 60C.
- Remove form the heat and continue whisking the mixture until it becomes thick and glossy then whisk in the vanilla essence.
- Slowly add the butter cubes whisking all the time. Don’t worry if the mixture seems to collapse.
- Continue whisking on full speed until fully combined and you have a fluffy buttercream. If the frosting is too soft, chill the mixture until it begins to firm up before whisking again until light and fluffy.
- Spoon the butter cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe onto each cake. Refrigerate the cakes for 10 minutes before serving.
Tip: You can add a little food colouring to the frosting or let a little colour run down the sides of the piping bag before adding the frosting for a pretty effect.
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