Nutella cupcakes

[phlox]

I'd like to make cupcakes with a Nutella center. What is the best way to accomplish this? Should I put the Nutella in before baking or just make a hole after the cupcakes are baked and add the filling after?

Any advice would be appreciated, oh expert bakers!!

[sanrensho]

If it were me, I'd make something like a nutella buttercream and then fill the baked cupcakes.

[Lisa Shock]

If you want Nutella lava cupcakes, make balls of nutella, freeze them solid, then place one on top of each cup of batter and bake. The balls will fall a bit as they bake, but the cake solidifying and rising at the bottom will keep them in the middle. (see lava cake thread)

I agree that filling with icing is probably the best way to go. The icing will have a light texture that's easy to eat and easy to inject into the cake.

[bmartino]

I think it really depends on what you want the texture of your Nutella filling to be upon serving.

If you want the filling to be light and fluffy - i.e., lighter and fluffier than Nutella is on it's own, piped-in buttercream is the way to go.

If you want it to be viscous and liquid, Lisa's method is great -- I've actually done this with Nutella in banana cupcakes, to great effect. The only caveat is that Nutella tends to de-emulsify under high heat due to the hazelnut oil, so I found that it's helpful to combine Nutella and semisweet dark chocolate (50-60%) in a 2:1 ratio to keep the nut oil from absorbing into the cake. When I did this, I had to serve the cupcakes immediately after they were cool enough to ice -- if left to cool, the center will become rather firm.

If the texture you're after is exactly the stiff, creamy texture of Nutella, I'd say your best bet is to pipe in just Nutella after baking.

Whichever method you choose, it sounds yummy!

[CanadianBakin']

http://www.wilton.com/cupcakes/making-cupc...ed-cupcakes.cfm

Wilton has a long narrow tip that you can pipe the filling in with. I'm sure other companies have this tip as well. You can feel the cupcake give a little when you're piping and you know that's when it's full. It needs to be a light textured cake for this method.