Hazelnut Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten Free)
These hazelnut chocolate cupcakes taste like Nutella in cupcake form. The chocolate cupcakes are moist and super chocolatey, stuffed with a centre of hazelnut praline paste. The hazelnut buttercream frosting is fluffy and has the most amazing hazelnut flavour. And together, they create a flavour explosion – that also happens to be gluten free!
Servings 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 quantity/recipe of hazelnut praline paste (Find the recipe here. You will need approximately the whole quantity made by the recipe to fill and frost 12 cupcakes.)
For chocolate cupcakes:
- 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), chopped
- 150 g (1 ⅓ sticks) unsalted butter
- 15 g (⅛ cup) Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster/superfine sugar
- 3 UK medium/US large eggs, room temperature
- 65 g (½ cup + ½ tbsp) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour blend, which doesn't contain xanthan gum. You can also mix your own blend with 50% white rice flour, 30% potato starch and 20% maize flour by weight.)
- 32 g (⅓ cup) ground hazelnuts
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your GF flour blend already contains xanthan.)
- ½ tsp salt
- 90 g (3/8 cup) hot water
For hazelnut buttercream frosting:
- 340 g (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 270 g (2 ¼ cups) powdered/icing sugar (You can use up to a total of 360g/3 cups of powdered sugar, but that will give a very sweet frosting - remember that you'll be adding the hazelnut praline paste as well!)
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- ⅓-½ cup hazelnut praline paste (Find the recipe here. ⅓ cup will give a very stable frosting with a less intense hazelnut flavour. ½ cup will give a slightly softer frosting with a much more intense flavour.)
Instructions
For chocolate cupcakes:
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 320ºF (160ºC) and line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin baking tin with cupcake liners.
- In a heat-proof bowl above a pot of simmering water, melt together the chocolate and butter.
- Once melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool until warm. Then, mix in the cocoa powder and sugar.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.
- Sift together the gluten free flour blend, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt, and add them to the wet ingredients. Mix well until combined.
- Add the hot water to the cupcake batter, and whisk well until you get a smooth, glossy batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcakes, so that each cupcake liner is about ¾ full.
- Bake at 320ºF (160ºC) for about 30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake tin, and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.
For hazelnut buttercream frosting:
- In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer with the double beaters attachment, beat the butter for 2 - 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
- Add the powdered/icing sugar, and beat for a further 5 - 7 minutes, until very pale and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the hazelnut praline paste, and mix until only just incorporated.
- Set aside until needed.
Assembling the cupcakes:
- Use an apple corer or a piping nozzle, turned upside down, to create a hole in the middle of each cupcake. Fill it with about 1 teaspoon of the hazelnut praline paste.
- Pipe the hazelnut buttercream frosting on top of the filled cupcakes with a piping nozzle of your choice (I used a Wilton 1M nozzle).
- Sprinkle with chocolate shavings or sprinkles, and serve.
Storage:
- The hazelnut chocolate cupcakes keep well in a closed container in a cool dry place for about 3 - 4 days.