By Rachael Thompson Hosting 25.11.2023

Sweet Chick's Cacao Cupcakes with Hazelnut Buttercream

You won't be able to resist coming back for seconds and thirds.

Welcome to Put on a Spread, a recipe series that takes you inside the kitchens – and dining rooms – of some of our favourite home cooks. For this instalment, artisinal baked goods and fine foods specialist Sweet Chick shares her recipes for cacao cupcakes with hazelnut buttercream.

A polished wooden table draped with the Bed Threads White 100% French Flax Linen Tablecloth, its luxurious rectangular fabric pooling onto the floor against a plain white wall.

A rustic kitchen features a meal-ready dining table dressed in the Bed Threads White 100% French Flax Linen Tablecloth, accented with plates, glasses, yellow flowers, wooden chairs, and arched shelves.

A dining table set with a Bed Threads White 100% French Flax Linen Tablecloth, rust placemats, floral plates, glassware, napkins, dried flower vases, a pizza on a wooden board, and a fruit tart.

A sunlit outdoor dining area features a Bed Threads White 100% French Flax Linen Tablecloth on a round table with fruit and drinks, surrounded by white wrought iron chairs, brick flooring, potted plants, and a leafy tree against a pale wall.

A round table set for four with plates, cutlery, glasses of tea, a beige teapot, and fresh fruit atop the White 100% French Flax Linen Tablecloth by Bed Threads adds elegance to the cozy scene.

A table styled with Bed Threads’ Terracotta & Rust 100% French Flax Linen Scalloped Placemats (Set of Four), floral plates, napkins, rosé glasses, and fresh dishes. Bright flowers add charm—an ideal housewarming gift.

A table for two features Bed Threads’ Terracotta & Rust 100% French Flax Linen Scalloped Placemats, plates, napkins, glasses, cutlery, salad, pasta, tomatoes, and vibrant flowers—a perfect housewarming gift.

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There are some food combinations that are a match made in heaven, one of which is chocolate and hazelnut. Hazelnut has sweet, nutty, and earthy flavours which perfectly complement the dark, intense, and bitter notes of cacao. Whether this brings to mind Nutella or Ferrero Rocher, this universally loved duo just hits different.

Previously we've shared a recipe for a decadent chocolate tart with roasted hazelnuts, and now we're turning our attention to Sweet Chick's cacao cupcakes with hazelnut buttercream – because who doesn't love a delicious cupcake?

These divine bites are an ode to our newest linen sleepwear colours, Cacao and Hazelnut and are the perfect treat to make with or for any mother figure in your life this Mother's Day.

Ingredients

Cacao cupcakes

¾ cup cacao powder
250ml hot water
3 cups plain flour
3 ½ tsp bicarbonate soda
2 ½ cups caster sugar
400ml buttermilk
3 eggs
180ml vegetable oil

Hazelnut buttercream

1 ¼ cup roasted hazelnuts, plus a few extra for decorating
200g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
400g icing sugar
Rose petals, for decorating

Method

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced.
Line a muffin tray with patty pans.
Combine cacao powder and hot water in bowl. Set aside.
Add flour, bicarb soda, and caster sugar in a bowl; stir to combine.
Combine dry ingredient mixture, cacao mixture, buttermilk, eggs and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on a medium speed until combined. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to mix in any bits the electric mixer didn’t reach.
Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, fill the patty pans halfway with the mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes or until springy on top and the skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the buttercream

Using a food processor, blitz 1 cup of roasted hazelnuts until a fine paste forms. Sift the paste through a sieve until you are left with smooth hazelnut butter.
Beat unsalted butter and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on high, until a fluffy buttercream forms. Scrape down the sides halfway through to mix in any clumps and continue beating.
Add the hazelnut mixture to the buttercream and mix on low until combined.
Reserve about 18 hazelnuts and cut them in half. Finely chop the remaining hazelnuts.
Fill the piping bag with the hazelnut buttercream. Pipe peaks of buttercream onto cupcakes.
Top with finely chopped hazelnuts, one half of a hazelnut and fragrant rose petals.