Nutella-Filled Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Tomorrow is a dear friend’s birthday, and such an occasion calls for cupcakes.

Seeing as how this particular friends loves Nutella (but then again, who doesn’t?), I thought this would be the perfect excuse to try my hand at Nutella-filled cupcakes.

For the cake part, I used my go-to recipe for vanilla cake, which is actually a recipe for cream cheese cupcakes, adapted from this one.

Cream cheese cupcakes, in theory, may sound a tad strange, but in actuality they are simply vanilla cupcakes that are just extra rich and dense.

Cream Cheese Cupcakes (makes 2 dozen)

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/3 cups milk

2 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugar until creamy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Combine baking powder, salt, baking soda, and flour in a separate, small bowl. Alternate between mixing in flour mixture and milk.

Place about two tablespoons of batter in each cupcake tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they appear slightly golden-brown. Allow to cool in tins.

To fill them, I placed Nutella in a pastry bag and used a long tip that is specifically for filling cupcakes. You can also use a knife or corer to hollow out a small space in the center of the cupcake, and then pipe in your Nutella.

Due to a few time constraints this morning (go figure!), I opted for regular buttercream frosting (1 stick of butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, bit of milk), and by “I opted”, I mean that my mom (The Queen of Buttercream) talked some sense into me, and even made it for me. Aren’t moms wonderful?

Unlike with these cupcakes:

Made with Alex!

I kept the decorating simple, going for a smooth, heaping tablespoon of frosting and some sprinkles.

Easy as pie. Or cake.