"SMITTEN" : VANILLA CUPCAKES WITH NUTELLA FILLING

I call them the "smitten cupcakes", not only because of their appearance but also this is the only time I've got my cupcakes perfect and well that left me smitten ,  somehow I usually manage to go wrong with them and before getting these right , I had to throw a batch of 24 in the bin . I'm a big fan of cupcakes personally , they are just the right size of the sweet bite you need with latte or chocolat chaud, but I've never been able to get my hands on a good cupcake except for of course the gourmet high end patiserries in the metro cities where I usually end up paying quite as much to make 50 of them ( not exaggerating its quite true ) , well after a lot of experiments I've zeroed down to this recipe , which yields about 12-18 (medium -small ) respectively as per your preference , light and moist perfect vanilla cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 Cups Flour ( Maida)
• 1 Cup powdered sugar 
• 1/2 Cup softened butter + 2 Tbsp for the filling 
• 1/2 Cup Milk + 1 Tbsp for the filling 
• 1 Tsp Baking powder 
• 1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Vanilla extract 
• 1/4 Cup Nutella for the filling 

METHOD:

• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius 
• Sieve the flour , baking soda and baking powder together in a bowl and keep aside .
• Whisk the butter and sugar well , if using an electric beater ,a minute is enough , if you're , whisking by hand give it 2-3 minutes .
• Add in the eggs one at a time , whisking well until combined , whisk the mixture for about 1-2 minutes , and add in the vanilla extract .
• To this mixture add the flour and milk , alternately following the sequence (flour , milk,  flour , milk , flour) and whisk well for about 2-4 minutes .
• Line a cupcake tray with paper and pipe in the mixture filling the cup half or slightly more .
• Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until done . Check with a skewer after 20 minutes .
• For the filling : In a microwavable bowl add in the nutella , 2tbsp butter and 1 tbsp milk and warm for about 30 seconds , and whisk well with a fork.

• Your cupcakes will like this after they are done , once out from the oven allow them to cool for 1 hour on the wire rack , before you start filling them up .

• Use a knife to cut out a small hole in the centre of the cupcake , and gently create a well inside

• Fill the filling into this well , using a fork .

• Use the crumb like shavings of the cupcake , to cover up the hole and have a smooth surface .

 

• For the Fondant Icing : Using and making fondant is usually a tricky task ,I usually follow this easy peasy recipe by all recipes . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF5R0YxKYqE , you can follow the link here for the same . The recipe uses shortening , it may not be available to us , so instead you could use butter or canola oil ideally , otherwise any cooking oil easily available also solves the purpose .