Oreo Cupcakes with Oreo Truffles

Yet another birthday cupcake! I saw this recipe on Cupcake Crazy (cool blog - do check it out) sometime ago and bookmarked it to try soon. I made oreo truffles a while back so was excited to make them again. They're so simple to make and absolutely divine.  Please click on the link for the recipe. 

I said recently when I made the dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting that they were the best cupcakes I've ever had. Well I have to revise my statement and say that these are the best... ever! I know I'm biased as I love oreos but these cupcakes really were something else. I baked half an oreo cookie in the base which gave it some extra crunch. There's melted chocolate and more oreos in the cake batter and yet more oreos in the frosting. I cut back the sugar so it wasn't too sweet and paired well with the frosting and truffle.

The only thing I would do differently next time is to crush the oreos in a food processor until very fine for the frosting. I bashed them up with a rolling pin this time and couldn't pipe pretty patterns with them as the oreo bits got stuck in the nozzle. I got the round tip out in the end which worked fine. Doesn't look too bad, does it? It definitely tasted amazing :) 

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY CAROLINE!!

Yummy oreos :)

Adding crushed oreos to the batter

Oreo cookie base

ready to go in the oven

fresh from the oven

making the frosting

not the prettiest but tastes great!

top with oreo truffle

oreo truffle

Oreo Cupcakes 

Makes 18 cupcakes (I got 34 out of it - 9 large ones and 25 regular sized)

170g unsalted butter, softened
85g brown sugar
227g dark chocolate, melted
3 large eggs, separated
2 tsp vanilla extract
220g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
430mls cups milk
8 Oreo cookies, smashed to bits (place the cookies in a plastic bag and smash with a rolling pin)
34 Oreos halved (for base) 

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line 3 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake liners.
• In each cupcake liner place half an Oreo (the half with the cream filling still on it). Reserve the other half for the frosting.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Mix in egg yolks.
• Mix in vanilla and chocolate.
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the butter/sugar mixture.
• Stir in Oreos.
• In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until peaks form.
• Fold the batter into the egg whites.
• Fill cupcake liners almost to the top.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Once cupcakes have cooled top with Oreo cream cheese frosting and an Oreo truffle. Alternatively you can decorate with oreo cookies. 

Cream Cheese Oreo Frosting 

227g cream cheese, softened
170g unsalted butter, softened
440g icing sugar 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
Crushed Oreos (I used the 34 half pieces of Oreo cookies from the cupcakes) Tip: crush very finely in a food processor

• Whip cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
• Mix in icing sugar one cup at a time.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Gently stir in crushed Oreos.