Chocolate Walnut Cupcakes with Hazelnut Filling

All that thinking last week about Ferrero Rocher truffles made me want to try something creative in the kitchen, so I did a little research. Apparently, playing around with recreations of this confection is quite popular. I found recipes for Ferrero Rocher brownies, Ferrero Rocher tortes and homemade versions of the truffles themselves. Ultimately, I chose these Ferrero Rocher cupcakes by The Cupcake Project for my little experiment.

Though I followed The Cupcake Project’s recipe closely, what I ended up with was not the Ferrero Rocher tribute I had expected, mainly because I was missing a few key elements. I purposely eliminated the edible gold flakes she uses (they just didn’t seem practical for the casual family dinner I was baking for), but then I ran into a few problems at the grocery store. Not only could I not find hazelnut extract (The Cupcake Project recommend purchasing it here), I couldn’t find the hazelnuts themselves, OR the gold foil baking liners, which were really instrumental in making the association between the cupcakes and the Ferrero Rocher chocolates with their signature gold wrapping.

So I adapted. Instead of hazelnut, I used black walnut extract in the cupcakes themselves as well as in the chocolate ganache icing (who knew THAT would be more readily available?), and I replaced the chopped hazelnuts with chopped walnuts as well. To give them a touch of hazelnut flavor, I opted for Nutella instead of The Cupcake Project’s homemade filling, and I used plain, old paper baking liners. Because, really, who cares what they look like if they taste good? They turned out moist, rich and super chocolatey – and my family seemed to like them, which is really all that matters anyway.

Chocolate Walnut Cupcakes with Hazelnut Filling

Cupcakes

½ cup boiling water

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon black walnut extract

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

10 tablespoons dark brown sugar

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into the cocoa until smooth, then whisk in milk, vanilla and black walnut extracts. In a large bowl (or, better yet, a stand mixer), cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Next, beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt and add to egg/sugar mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating well after each addition. Line cupcake pan with wrappers and fill each one slightly more than ½ full. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

When cool, use a small spoon to scoop out a hole in the center of each cupcake; fill each hole with Nutella, then replace the “cupcake holes” so the Nutella is “hidden” inside.

Chocolate Walnut Ganache

½ cup heavy cream

8 ounces (about 2 ½ cups) chocolate chunks

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 teaspoons black walnut extract

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Heat the cream on the stove until it boils. Mix chocolate into hot cream and stir to melt. Add corn syrup and walnut extract and blend well; stir in chopped walnuts and spread ganache on top of the cupcakes.

*Note: If you read The Cupcake Project’s post, she mentions doubling the cupcake recipe. I found this a bit confusing, and doubled the proportions she had listed, which made so many cupcakes, I had enough for more than a weeks’ worth of breakfasts (yes, I have a weakness for early morning sweets), and that was after my family put a serious dent in them. If you use the proportions I have listed here, this recipe should make about 16 cupcakes.