Nutella – a chocolate heaven, preferably eaten straight from the jar. IF (and that’s a big IF) you can resist, then put some on toast or use in a recipe. Make it into buttercream frosting and slather them onto some cupcakes and let it do its magic 🙂

So much inspired I am by this frosting and the two jars of Nutella sitting on my shelf that I’ll do a Nutella series on my blog soon 😀 😛

This tastes so good that it’s a miracle I had any left to go on the chocolate cupcakes (click for recipe) I baked.

This is sufficient to frost 8-10 cupcakes, you can easily double the recipe.

Ingredients –

80g unsalted butter at room temperature
80g icing sugar (sifted)
80g Nutella (or any other hazelnut spread)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tsp heavy cream

Procedure –

1. Using a hand mixer/electric mixer/whisk, beat the butter for about 5-7 minutes till smooth and pale.
2. Add vanilla essence and mix well.
3. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar to butter while beating it. Ensure all sugar and butter is mixed well.
4. Add Nutella and beat the mixture again for 2-3 minutes till all combined.
5. Add 1 tsp of cream at a time and beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. You can add more cream (1 tsp at a time) or icing sugar (1 tbsp at a time) depending on the consistency of the frosting.
5. Transfer the icing to a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice for frosting cakes or cupcakes. Ensure your cakes/cupcakes are cool before you start piping.

Notes – 

1. The consistency of the frosting might differ depending on the kitchen temperature and quality of ingredients. Hence, the icing sugar and cream should be adjusted depending on the final texture – if it’s too dry add a teaspoon of cream; if it’s wet, add a tablespoon of icing sugar and go from there.
2. You can use milk instead of cream, but reduce the quantity as per consistency.