Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes

A moist chocolate hazelnut cupcake is cored and filled with a creamy Nutella whipped cream and chopped hazelnuts. To finish off this decadent dessert we swirl a generous helping of chocolate hazelnut buttercream overtop and garnish with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 18

Total Time 53

Servings cupcakes

Calories 656kcal

Author Whitney Wright

Equipment

cupcake pan

Ingredients

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut emulsion
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Whipped Nutella and Hazelnuts

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup Nutella
1/3 cup hazelnuts toasted and chopped

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter slightly chilled
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz milk chocolate bar chopped, or semi-sweet chocolate (whichever you prefer)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon hazelnut emulsion

Instructions

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk the cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and hazelnut emulsion. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute or until thoroughly combined.
With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk starting and ending with the dry ingredients. (Dry, buttermilk, dry, buttermilk, dry). Don't overmix.
Fill the liners half full. If you fill them over halfway, they will spill over! Don't do it. Only fill half full. I like to use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to help portion out the batter.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whipped Nutella with Hazelnuts

Place the heavy cream in a medium bowl. Beat until stiff peaks form. Add the Nutella and beat again until combined and smooth, about 1 minute. Fold the chopped hazelnuts into the mixture. Place into a ziplock bag and snip the corner. We will use this to fill the centers of each cupcake.

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at half power, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. (You don't want to add hot melted chocolate to the butter because it'll melt it and/or make it VERY soft).
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add the powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is mixed in, add the vanilla and hazelnut emulsion. Beat for 30 seconds.
Pour in the melted chocolate and beat on medium high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that everything is evenly incorporated. Add the heavy cream (if needed) and beat for another minute. Place the buttercream in a piping bag.

Assembly

Take the cooled cupcakes and remove the core of the cupcake. If you don’t have a cupcake corer, don’t worry! You can use a piping tip. I use my 1M tip. Hold the piping tip over the cupcake with the larger side of the piping tip pointing into the cupcake. Push the piping tip into the center of the cupcake and twist down until you reach halfway into the cupcake. Twist and pull the piping tip out of the cupcake. The core will be removed! Continue until all cupcakes have been cored.
Pipe a heaping tablespoon of the whipped nutella into the cored cupcakes. Pipe the chocolate hazelnut buttercream over the Nutella filled cupcake. Add an unwrapped Ferrero Rocher on top. Enjoy immediately, or store in the fridge, covered, until ready to serve.

Notes

This buttercream will make enough to frost the cupcakes with a generous swirl on top (just like the you see in the blog post photos).

Store the cupcakes covered or in an airtight container in the fridge.

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