This has to be one of the most simplest yet tastiest cupcake to whip up for any chocolate lover.

My friend just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl so with a quick, last minute visit planned for us girls to get in there to see the baby asap I was nominated as “cupcake bringer”. Usually I would have tried my best to make something that resembled the fact that we were welcoming a baby however, I decided to play it safe and go for a fool proof recipe which the girls would love.

Ingredients

For the Cake;

125g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

125g Caster Sugar

2 Medium Free Range Eggs (whisked)

125g Self Raising Flour (sifted)

1tbsp Bournville Drinking Chocolate Powder (sifted)

1tbsp Skimmed Milk (an attempt to lower the calorie intake)

1tsp Vanilla Essence

 

For the Buttercream;

115g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

500g Icing Sugar (sifted)

1tbsp Bournville Drinking Chocolate (sifted)

60ml Skimmed Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Nutella

Method

Step 1

Whisk together the caster sugar and butter until they become fluffy (an electric whisk is best – i’ve had the same one for about 4 years)

Step 2

Gradually whisk in the eggs adding a spoonful of the flour to prevent the mixture curdling

Step 3

Fold in the remaining flour and Bournville powder and then mix in the milk and vanilla essence

Step 4

Fill your muffin cases 2/3 of the way in pop into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Step 5

Once the cakes have cooked, allow them to cool in the tin for approximately 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack

Step 6

Once cooled, dig out the centre of the cupcake and fill with Nutella

I usually make my buttercream whilst the cakes are in the oven to save a bit of time. To do so;

Whisk up the butter and add half of the icing sugar. At this point I like to add the milk and vanilla, this helps limit the mess caused from the icing sugar (bits of dust usually get everywhere) gradually add the remaining icing sugar and you will be left with a lovely vanilla/chocolate buttercream with the perfect consistency for piping.

I like to complete my cupcakes with my signature rose effect finish which can be easily achieved with a Wilton 2D Nozzle