Chocolate Cupcakes with Hazelnut Praline Buttercream

Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.

Preheat oven to 180ºC

Place eggs and sugar in a bowl of a counter top beat and beat on high for at least 6 Minutes until ribbon stage is achieved.

The eggs should be pale and light.

While the eggs are beating, heat the milk and butter until the butter is just melted. Set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients well.

Turn the mixer down to low and beginning with the dry ingredients, alternate adding milk mixture and dry ingredients until all are well combined. Be careful not to over mix. This over works the gluten and your cupcakes will rise unevenly, usually with a dome.

Using a 60ml measuring cup, fill each cupcake wrapper 3/4 of the way up.

Bake for 12 Minutes. If you gently press the top of the cupcake, it should spring back quickly if completely baked.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire cooling rack.

In a small saucepan, add sugar and water

Dissolve sugar over a low heat, stirring gently with a metal spoon until the liquid is clear.

Add nuts to sugar syrup and allow to boil, until the syrup turns a golden colour.

Remove saucepan from the heat and pour syrup and nuts onto a non stick mat or onto a greased baking sheet. Allow to cool completely.

Break into smaller pieces and place in a food processor.

Process until the mixture turns to a consistency of a nut butter. This may take about 5 Minutes. Set aside

Place the butter in a large bowl of a countertop mixer, and beat with a ‘K’ beater attachment until soft.

Add icing sugar and continue beating on low until all icing sugar is combined.

Add Praline and mix well.

Add milk slowly until a soft buttercream is achieved. You may not need all the milk.

Place buttercream into an icing bag with a star nozzle ( I use an 885) and pipe a swirl of buttercream onto each cupcake.

I decorated each cupcake with some of extra nut brittle that I didn’t put in the food processor.

Store in an airtight container. They are best enjoyed in the first two days after baking.

It may be worth doubling the praline mixture and storing extra praline in the freezer for the next time you need it. It only takes 30 Minutes to defrost. Its fantastic mixed with white ganache to fill macarons.