Cupcake!

One of my favourite cupcakes is the nutella cupcake from Marmalade Pantry - a sinfully rich chocolate cupcake with nutella frosting on top. But that little package doesn't come cheap, at $5 each if I'm not mistaken. I always said it would be cheaper to make them on my own, and I finally got it right today.

My first attempt at recreating the Marmalade Pantry experience was not very successful. The chocolate cupcake recipe I used from Clare Crespo's Hey There, Cupcake! book turned out salty, and it required generous slatherings of Nutella on top to make them palatable.

Then I chanced upon another recipe from S'pore blogger The Baker, who had tweaked a Donna Hay recipe to create her own Nutella frosting cupcakes. The pictures looked sufficiently tempting enough for me to have another go.

My version is slightly different - I used one less egg, slightly more salt, and less baking powder (all accidents in measurement, I might add). I also didn't have vanilla extract in my fridge, so I subsituted that with some dessert port wine, which didn't seem to do the cupcakes any harm. I have to admit, I am quite pleased with the result; the cupcakes came out with just the right consistency and texture, although I could have swirled the nutella into the batter a little better. Well, there's always next time.

If you're interested, here's how I did my cupcakes:

140 grams unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar (I used cane sugar)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Nutella, more than half the 220g bottle!

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract.
3. Stir in flour, baking bowder, salt until batter is smooth.
4. Dollop batter into muffin trays until 3/4 full.
5. Top off with Nutella (as much or as little as you want), and swirl through batter with a toothpick
6. Bake in oven at about 170 deg for 15-20 min.
7. Remove, cool on wire rack.
8. Admire, then eat!