International Nutella Day?! Another reason to BAKE!

A few months ago I got into this habit of constantly searching "random holidays" throughout the year. Not just the big ones like Christmas, Easter, Hug a Tall Person Day--but also the more obscure and often unappreciated ones. I discovered that yesterday, Feb. 5th, was World Nutella Day (And my MD bff, Alex's birthday!). Mmmm...Nutella brings joy to me like no other chocolatey goodness. Why is that? Hazelnuts! Gaaaah! Love love love. Today happens to be my friend Arianne's birthday. My first thought of course was "get fancy with some cupcakes!". So I did. Devil's Food Nutella cupcakes with raspberry jam and cream cheese frosting baby! A copy cat version of the Cocoa Bean's freaking-awesome-Nutella-smacking-raspberry-jam-topped-with-the-tang-of-cream-cheese cupcake!!! Or more commonly known as the Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcake. The only problem is I haven't figured out how to incorporate the "cheesecake" part into it. I'll have to try some stuff out when I can afford to take some risks. Today I played it safe since I wanted Arianne to actually have edible cupcakes. So, here's the recipe:

CUPCAKES:

• 1 box of devil's food/dark chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. Hazelnut Nutella (for batter)
• 1 cup Nutella for spreading
• 1/4 cup rasberry jam/preserves for spreading
• 1 can of your favorite cream cheese frosting (You can make your own. I don't have a recipe I like so I just bought whipped cream cheese frosting. I will post the chocolate Nutella frosting recipe below also in case you want to try that instead)
• Fresh raspberries for garnish

Mix together chocolate cake mix, eggs, milk, vanilla extract and Nutella. Scoop into paper liners, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched or toothpick comes out clean when inserted to middle of cupcake.

**Cool cupcakes completely before moving on to the next step**

Spread a thin layer of Nutella on cooled cupcake followed by a thin layer of raspberry jam. Pipe the cream cheese frosting on top (as much/little as you want) and top with a delicious fresh raspberry. Easy, yummy, warmth and love. And they look super pretty too!
Here's the recipe for the frosting I mentioned above. It's rich and creamy...unfortunately I didn't have time to make it this time and my mixer is broken, but I will make it next time!

Hazelnut Butter Cream Frosting:

• 8 tablespooons (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tablespoons milk or cream(cream is better!)
• 1 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer before adding the sugar or you will have a large mess to clean up. Add the sugar, 3 tablespoons cream, cocoa, Nutella, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add 2-3 more tablespoons cream if it's too thick.

And there you have it. Turns out pretty good! We enjoyed the cupcakes even with the store bought frosting and then headed out for more celebrating at the movies...a very disturbing 2 hours (Breaking Dawn) but it was a lot of fun with the girls nonetheless! Hope you enjoyed your birthday, Arianne! We love you!