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

Nutella Moon Pie Cupcakes

Nutella Moon Pie Cupcakes

Wow, you guys. Wow. I am a genius. Nutella marshmallow fluff? Genius.

Cupcakes:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 actual bananas)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add in bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs until well mixed. Sift in flour, baking powder, and baking soda, being careful not to over mix.

Fill cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake 15 minutes.

Let cool.

If your cupcakes overflow the tins -- and mine did, believe me -- your best friend is a small, serrated knife. Use it to trim the edges off the cupcakes so that they are even, as in the picture. This keeps them from looking like terrible deflated mushrooms.

Makes about 15.

Nutella Marshmallow Filling:

2 cups marshmallow fluff

1 cup nutella

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Beat the ingredients until fluffy and well combined.

Chocolate Coating:

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Melt the chocolate chips either in a double boiler or the microwave, being careful to stir frequently to prevent burning. Stir in the oil to keep the chocolate from resolidifying. Let cool.

To combine:

Gently core the cooled cupcakes using your weapon of choice -- as always, I prefer a serrated apple corer.

Fill the holes with a generous helping of the nutella mixture, making sure there is a small peak on top of the cupcake. You can use  a piping bag if you would prefer (I didn't feel like doing any more dishes, so I used a spoon).

Holding the cupcake carefully over the bowl of chocolate coating, use a spoon to cover the top of each cupcake, fulling covering it down to the wrapper. You will need to turn it as you do this, and you will have to pay attention and be quick to make sure the filling doesn't melt off into the chocolate while you're working.

After the cupcakes are covered, decorate with small slices of banana and place them in the freezer or refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

When cool, gently peel off the cupcake wrapper so that the chocolate comes down to about the same even place. Feel free to refrigerate as necessary; however, let the chocolate come back to a soft room temperature before serving. It will hold its shape, but be soft enough to eat.

Cupcakes adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Filling by me.