Chocolate-Filled Almond Cupcakes

Chocolate-Filled Cupcakes

I didn't have any cocoa powder (WHAT) so I swapped Nutella in as filling for these cupcakes. I actually think that was a mistake, as they were WAY too sweet. I'm going to give the original recipe's chocolate filling, but I'm not sure whether even a bittersweet ganache might have been better.

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg white

4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs. Beat until fully mixed in. Stir in yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just mixed. Stir in extract.

Fill cupcake tins about 3/4 full. Bake 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes 12.

Filling:

1 tsp hot water

3 1/2 oz (about half a 7 oz jar) marshmallow fluff

1/4 cup shortening

3 tbsp xxx sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together and beat until smooth.

Core a hole in the center of each cupcake and fill with a spoonful of the filling. 

Cap cupcakes with reserved cores.

Frosting:

1/2 stick butter

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

2-3 cups xxx sugar

Cream as needed for consistency

Beat butter until soft, then add xxx sugar and cream and beat until you get a soft, pipeable texture. Add vanilla bean paste. The paste has those little black speck-seeds in it, and gives you frosting that great French vanilla look.

Pipe a spiral on top of each cupcake.

Decorate as desired.

Adapted from Evil Shenanigans