Best Chocolate Cupcake With Nutella Swiss Meringue Frosting - A Dynamite CupCake
I can never say enough about the Swiss Meringue
Frosting. It’s my favorite frosting next to the whipped Cream
frosting. The beauty about Swiss Meringue frosting is that it is so light
and fluffy and can be confused with whipped frosting. Swiss meringue frosting
is a short cut way of making the famous Italian Meringue frosting which involves intricate
steps.
I highly recommend this frosting; it’s worth all the effort and pipes so well. They are ideal for decorating layered cakes and regular cupcakes. I always like to try this frosting with different flavor. I made these cupcakes for a potluck at my work and I got raving comments like 'Killer Cupcakes, Dynamite Cupcakes' from my coworkers about these cupcakes.
I believe it was the combination of the black magic chocolate cake and the Nutella Swiss meringue frosting that made them the exquisite chocolate cupcakes. This experimental combination turned out to be the best chocolate cupcake I ever made.
If you are planning to make any chocolate cake in the future, I insist to try this recipe for the best moist chocolaty cake you can have and top them with this fluffy silky smooth Nutella Meringue frosting. It's a luscious combination that you cannot resist.
Yields - 36 cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes - recipe from here
Frosting
5 - large egg whites (refer notes)
2/3 cup - sugar
2 cups /4 sticks - cold butter
2/3 cup - powdered sugar
2 tsp. - vanilla extract
6 tbsp. - Nutella
Directions:
Cupcakes
- Use 1 batch + 1/2 batch of the black magic chocolate cake recipe to make 36 cupcakes. Make sure that you fill only 3/4 of the cupcake liner with the batter, so that the cake batter won't ooze out while baking. Bake the cupcake at 350 F for 25 minutes or till a tooth pick comes out clean when tested in the center of the cupcake. I made them in batches to avoid burning. Let the cupcake cool completely before decorating.
- Double boiler Method - Fill half of a sauce pan with water and let it simmer over a stove top. Place 5 egg whites and 2/3 cup of sugar into the heat proof bowl that can fit on top of the sauce pan without touching the water. Using a wire whisk, stir the egg sugar mixture continuously till you don't feel any sugar crystals when rubbing the mixture between your fingers. At this point you can notice that the egg sugar mixture is clear with light pale color. If you have a candy thermometer, it should read 160°F which makes the egg whites safe to use. Turn off the flame.
- Transfer the egg white mixture into the standing mix bowl. Make sure that the steam from the bottom of the bowl don't get into the mixture while transferring. Use the whipping paddle and whip till the egg whites are silky white and forms soft peaks.
- Now add the cold butter pieces one at a time and whip till the butter is mixed well with the egg white. This needs good 10 minutes of whipping. At this point you will notice that the frosting looks lumpy and soupy, you will also notice little wetness in the frosting. Don't panic, this is part of the process. Just keep beating. It will start to come along. Add the powdered sugar in batches to the butter mixture at this point and keep beating.
- The frosting will come along as a smooth fluffy frosting within 2 -3 minutes. Now add 6 tbsp. of Nutella and vanilla extract. Whip it on high for 1 - 2 minutes or till the frosting forms sharp peaks.
- Place the frosting into piping bags and decorate the cupcakes. I used Wilton 1M and 2D tips to decorate the cupcakes.
- If this recipe yields more frosting than what you need, just half the recipe. You can use 3 small egg whites and half the amount for rest of the ingredients to make half batch. Please note that my recipes follow the US Standard measurements.
- You can add more Nutella. Just keep in mind that the sweetness of the frosting will increase, or else you can adjust the amount of powdered sugar to keep the balance.
- Left over frosting can be stored in air tight container in the refrigerator. To reuse the refrigerated frosting, keep the frosting at room temperature for 15 - 20 minutes; whip the frosting again before decorating the cake.
- If the temperature is higher outside, the decorated cupcakes can be kept in the refrigerator which helps to hold the frosting intact.