Nutella Buttercream Vanilla Cupcakes- Suck it Valentine

Chubby Baby with that Arrow- Stay Away from Me!

Ok. So it's Valentine's Day and I am single. Not a big deal right? No, it wouldn't be if my dear sister wouldn't stop bombarding me with 'what to do when you're alone on valentine's day' facebook links...actually, they are pretty hilarious.
So is being single on this particular day the absolute worst thing in the world? I don't think so as my dear daddy already sent me bicycle chocolate truffles :) he's the best and it's bicycles! win win. Tonight, the red lipstick is put on, and me and some other single gal pals hit the town, so don't despair! 

Creativity Explored: Bicycles

I might be acting all high and mighty about being ok with Valentine's this year, but I did get into the "Anti" spirit as well and made these Nutella Buttercream Vanilla Cupcakes. I couldn't afford $20 food coloring at Whole Foods, but it actually affirms my point even more- not a drop of Valentine in sight on these puppies! 

My frosting piping definitely needs some work, but this is the first time I have ever done it frankly- and my office thought they were pretty darn tasty, so I approve. I made some mini versions with X's to exemplify the "Anti" sentiment with my Babycakes mini-cupcake maker, but the remainder are large and in charge. 

Nutella was an awesome ingredient to use as the buttercream flavor, and I say this because Nutella makes every broken heart feel better! And, these went perfectly with a cup of lavender white tea in my Papi-Jack's favorite teacup (now vintage).

First the Vanilla Cupcakes:

Cupcake Ingredients

Butter and Sugar

Mix that shiz up

Should look like this after mixing

Add the eggs and vanilla

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder

Should be pretty goopy by now

Add the milk slowly

Action shot

Et Voila- Batter

BabyCakes Cupcake Maker

Fill Babycakes with batter for minis

Fill cupcake wrappers with batter for oven

Perfectly sized

For the Nutella Buttercream Frosting:

(gloriously copied from Kitchen Treaty)

More ingredients

Beat the powdered sugar and butter (lots of it)

Add the Nutella

Add in salt and vanilla extract

Action shot of 2 minute beating

The Single Serving! (Single on Valentine's serving size-stop judging)

X marks the spot

These selfies were really hard to take-thank god my candle is a good camera stand

TOO CUTE!!

Yea did this photoshoot at 8am, it's obvious

Happy (Anti) Valentine's Day from The Single Serving!

Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe:

     Ingredients-

     1 cup, white sugar

     1/2 cup, butter

     2 eggs

     2 tsp, vanilla extract

     1 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour

     1 3/4 tsp, baking powder

     1/2 cup, milk

     How To-

     Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place cupcake liners in baking pan.

     In a stand mixer, mix together the sugar and butter. Beat in eggs and add vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, mixing well. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. The pour into baking pan.

     Bake 20-25 minutes.

Nutella Buttercream Frosting Recipe:

     Ingredients-

    1 cup (2 sticks), unsalted butter, room temperature
    2 cups, powdered sugar
    2/3 cup, Nutella spread
    1 tsp, vanilla extract
    Pinch kosher salt
    2 tbs, heavy whipping cream

     How To- 

    In a stand mixer (KitchenAid), use the paddle attachment. Beat together the butter and powdered sugar on low until well-blended. 

    Add the Nutella and increase the speed to medium. Beat it for two minutes.

    Add the vanilla extract and salt and whip for an additional minute.

    Add the whipping cream and beat for about one minute, until the frosting lightens slightly in both color and texture.

Pipe it like it's hot!

Thoughts:

This took a lot of photo staging.... hard work. But it looks really pretty so I have no complaints.  Cupcakes were moist and fluffy and the buttercream was light and airy. I think next time, I would use just a tad less sugar in the frosting.