Oh Nutella, how I love you so. You pick me up when I am down and within a matter of seconds, you’re the perfect quick fix I need, just a spoonful away. You’re creamy hazelnut spread is heavenly on it’s own. Pair it with devil’s chocolate and I’m grounded again-everything will be alright.
It’s amazing how chocolate can do this to some of us. I keep a jar of Nutella as my emergency go-to but my willpower to resist the temptation of combining the three main components of this decadence weakened yesterday afternoon. Trying very hard to avoid yet another chocolate recipe was impossible as I felt an overpowering urge to combine devil’s food chocolate cupcakes infused with Nutella and the Ferrero Rocher chocolates that have been resting on my countertop for the past month staring at me.
So for those of you who are not a fan of chocolate, I promise I’ll have something different for the next post. I strongly believe by now I have gotten my chocolate fix out of the way (for now) especially after having one of these.
I have a vague memory of how I came across the gold wrapped ball of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. It must have been around the time I graduated high school and happened to have one in my hand. I remember thinking how sophisticated the wrapping of this candy was and immediately thought it must have been expensive.
I may not remember how or even why I had it but one thing I will never forget was the euphoric feeling I had once I bit into it. I thought I died and went to heaven. Seriously! I’m sure my eyes rolled to the back of my head. Okay, maybe I’m giving its greatness a little too much credit here but I feel like I’ve been missing out on this all of these years. And to think that I tried Nutella for the first time in my life about four years ago. Let me say that again FOUR years ago! Do you know how old I am?!
We won’t even go there about my age but I’m old enough to know and feel like I was deprived as a kid. I guess I should thank my parents because if I had known, who knows what size pants I’d be wearing as a child.
I usually like to bake everything from scratch to test my abilities in the kitchen. But when you feel like you’re in dire need of a quick fix, a box of chocolate cake mix is helpful. Nevertheless, if you want to make the cupcake portion from scratch, I have provided a link below to a previous recipe.
ENJOY!
Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- One box of devil’s food chocolate cake mix along with required amounts of eggs, vegetable oil and water/milk (to make from scratch, see here)
- 1/2 cup hazelnut spread
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
Frosting
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 cups hazelnut spread
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon hazelnut extract (optional)
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped (optional; used as a topping)
- 24 Ferrero Rocher chocolates (optional; used as a topping)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare 24 cupcake wells with a gold paper baking cup as shown.
- Box version: combine all ingredients together and mix with a whisk until just combined.
- From scratch: directions found here adding hazelnut spread and nuts via fold method as step 5.
- Pour batter into each baking cup approximately 1/2-3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix shortening and butter until light and fluffy. *Note: If butter is too cold, microwave for 30 seconds to soften prior to mixing with shortening.
- Add sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl to ensure thorough mixing.
- Add hazelnut spread 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl to ensure thorough mixing. For extra hazelnut flavor, add in extract and mix.
- If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time to thin frosting.
Assembly
- Once cupcakes are cooled and frosting is made, spoon frosting into a pastry bag filling up to 3/4 full, twist bag at the top to close (this will prevent flow back) and cut the tip of the bag to the size you want to pipe round swirls.
- Immediately after frosting each cupcake, sprinkle with hazelnuts.
- For a more dramatic and bold finish, top each cupcake with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. ENJOY!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Cuisine: American
Hazelnut Devil’s Chocolate Cupcakes and Hazelnut Frosting was created by URBAN BAKES.