Hazelnut Flourless Chocolate Cupkakes with Hazelnut Cream

Flourless chocolate cake... who doesn't like that? I think it's one of the most decadent desserts and so I had to try it in a miniature version.  Let me back up a bit. The other day was Sunday. Sunday is family day. John, myself and Charlotte always spend the day doing some sort of adventure, even if it's just hitting up a new local store. We get up, we get coffee, bagels and the newspaper, have a big breakfast and then venture out for the day. I love Sundays! I was sort of slow this Sunday b/c I drank a few too many beers and stayed up too late with John and some friends playing PlayStation3 Move- which is so fun, try it! So John had to take the reigns on getting the coffee Sunday ritual together, thanks baby. Anyway- so this Sunday we hit up this new store called Ollie's (once i came out of my pathetic hangover, 6 beers, that's shameful). Basically this store is a discount warehouse that has a little bit of everything. They buy up left over product from stores that have bought too much or have some sort of situation where they cant carry their merchandise anymore, like a fire or closeout.  Ok, so we bought some new books for Bean, and then hit up the food section. It's all dried and bottled goods. I had an effing field day! Their extract were ridiculously cheap, coconut so much cheaper than my usual grocery trip and all kinds of other little things I can use for my baking. Not to mention Dora fruit snacks for Charlotte, less than half the usual price, SCORE!  After i filled our cart, we then headed over to Michael's next door. I half to say when ever our Sunday adventures end up being a shopping trip, I end up with way more stuff than John.(Love u babe) I wanted to pick up gel food coloring b.c I wanted to be able to dye my cakes and icings more vibrant colors than what you can do with just regular McCormick Easter egg dye. I grabbed that, some new sugar crystals, piping bags and some new cupcake papers,tins, whatever.  OK so then we headed home and we get started in another Sunday tradition, pasta night,. That's not for this blog tho. I'll save that for a guest post on Miss Gina Truhe's blog, foodismyporn.blogspot.com


Monday morning- I wake up with the itch to bake, I didn't bake all day Sunday so now I have the shakes.  I grab my new hazelnut extract, some chocolate and get to work with my flourless chocolate cakes.

I decided to go with hazelnut to mirror the flavors of nutella, another favorite in my house. These cakes don't look the prettiest b/c i didn't wait long enough for my whipped cream to set before i topped my cakes. I also used the wrong tip for my piping bag, but they taste awesome. Here's what I did:
8 ounces melted semi sweet chocolate
2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter melted (melt choc & butter 2gether)
6 large eggs separated
12 tbsp sugar divided
2 tsp hazelnut extract
1 tsp dark cocoa powder
Beat the 6 eggs yolks with 6 tbsp of the sugar. Beat it for at least 3 minutes. You want it super  airy and to turn a lighter color. 
Fold the egg mixture in with the chocolate & butter mixture.
In a separate bowl whip the 6 egg whites while gradually adding the remaining 6 tbsp of sugar. Beat till you have stiff peaks. It should about triple in size. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake @350 for 10 minutes , then rotate pans and bake additional 10 minutes. My batter made 2 dozen cakes. 
For the cream I beat 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 tsp hazelnut extract and 1 pkg non-flavored gelatin that had been dissolved in 4 tbsp of cold water. I also dyed my whipped cream with a copper color so it'd emulate that hazelnut color. Again, I should have waited to frost, but I think I just got too excited. 
These cakes are a little messy but they are so soft and rich. I'll definitely make them any time I'm in the mood for something rich and chocolatey.