I made these cupcakes for a birthday party last weekend and they were a big hit! I’ve made nutella frosting before (remember this cake?), but this updated version is even better – super light and fluffy! I decided to stray away from my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe that I’ve posted about soooo many times (here, here, here, here, here, and here – just to name a few!) and try a recipe for chocolate cupcakes made from a doctored-up cake mix. I named them shortcut chocolate cupcakes, but in reality they have almost as many ingredients as my favorite from scratch recipe. And while they were good, they were not as good as my from scratch recipe. You just don’t get a deep chocolate flavor from a cake mix, but if you like to bake with cake mixes and prefer a milk chocolate cupcake then you should give this recipe a try. The star of these cupcakes was definitely the frosting though – it’s pretty awesome ;). Enjoy!
I also made a chocolate chip cookie cake. Some of you may remember the cookie cake post from a while back? I wanted the border to look more like zebra stripes, but clearly I’m not that talented as it didn’t turn out as I had hoped. Oh well – it still tasted good at least ;).
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Shortcut Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting
Shortcut Chocolate Cupcakes
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
1/2 cup warm water
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, water and espresso. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.
3. Using a cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 30 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched.
5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 30 cupcakes.
*adapted from My Baking Addiction, originally from Allrecipes
Nutella Frosting
2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
½ (generous) cup nutella
½ cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
5-6 tbsp cold evaporated milk or heavy cream
1. Using stand mixer or hand mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
2. Add nutella and beat about 30 seconds. Beat in vanilla and evaporated milk until you reach your desired consistency.
