Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Butter Icing

It has been TOO long since my last post and I am so very sorry about that. Life/work has been manic of late and I HAVE been doing a lot of baking (I was commissioned to make some Christmas cakes and cupcakes for people I work with. They paid me! In real money!) but I was so focussed on doing them well that I didn't really take photos till the end. I'll make a post with some pics in soon.

To make up for my atrocious posting habit, I made you something a little bit special. You know all those extra chocolates that you have lying around from Christmas?

No?

Me neither.

So I went out and bought a pack of Ferrero Rochers and some Nutella and made the cupcakes that will destroy all New Years' Resolutions. I won't tell if you won't.

Ingredients:

For the cakes - 

- 100g plain flour

- 20g good cocoa powder

- 140g caster sugar

- 1 and a half teaspoons of baking powder

- a pinch of salt

- 40g unsalted butter at room temperature

- 120ml milk (recipe recommends whole, I used semi-skimmed, come at me)

- 1 egg

- half a teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates

For the butter cream -
- 250g icing sugar
- 80g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 25ml milk
- 80g Nutella

- 30 mins before you're going to start baking, put the Ferrero Rochers into the freezer.
- Preheat the oven to 170C

- Measure out the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl and beat it (either by hand or with a handheld electric mixer) until it forms a sandy texture.

- Whisk the egg, milk and vanilla essence in a jug until combined.

- Slowly add half of this to the flour mixture and beat till combined. Continue to add the milk mixture and beat it until the mixture is completely smooth. 

- Spoon a little of the mixture into your cupcake cakes.

- Remove the Ferrero Rochers from the freezer and place one into each cupcake case.

- Spoon the remaining mixture into the cases; this may not completely cover the chocolates but they should all be coated in the cake mixture.

- Bake for 20-25 mins until top of cakes spring back when poked and a skewer comes out of them clean.

- Leave to cool for maybe 20 mins before preparing your icing.

- Beat the icing sugar and butter together.

- Add the milk and beat till completely combined.

- Add the Nutella and beat that in until that's combined too (and check it tastes right!)

- I wanted to top my cakes with toasted hazelnuts but we were sadly lacking, so I made do with these cute little stars in order to make that same light-flecked-on-dark effect that Ferrero Rochers have. Next time I'll top them with something a bit more crunchy.

- Try not to eat all of them at once. 

I'm serious. These are probably my favourite cupcake I've ever made and I am having to sit up stairs to hide from them so I don't eat them ALL. I know they're a bit indulgent but they were SO simple to make and would make a great homemade birthday present, I think. 

Or make a batch and eat all 12 in one night. That's what gym memberships are for, right?