Birthday Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes with Oreo Swiss Meringue Buttercream

There was only one reason I whipped these cupcakes up: Oreo swiss meringue buttercream - doesn't that just sound amazing! Although I'm not the biggest fan of plain vanilla swiss meringue buttercream by itself, it's too buttery for my tastebuds, I do love flavoured swiss meringue buttercreams and I love how silky and glossy they are and how beautifully they pipe! So I couldn't pass up giving this frosting recipe a try when I spied it on pinterest! 

I made these on my birthday.  I decided to use my classic chocolate oreo cupcake recipe for the base and I forgot just how much batter it produces! I got 24 regular size cupcakes and 18 mini's so be sure to make this recipe when you have a lot of time on your hands! I was literally baking the whole day, right up until half an hour before we had to leave for the zoo, hence why these photos were a bit of an afterthought! 

I know that usually it's typical on someones birthday that other people make cakes for them but I decided it would be fun to turn up laden with cupcakes for all my friends when I saw them that evening! so I didn't mind baking the day away...after all it is my happy place! 

So we busted them out after the very disappointing penguin show where instead of seeing cute penguins do tricks we had to watch two people from the crowd dress up as penguins! 

The oreo cupcakes were a pretty good consolation! 

and made up for the lack of penguin action! 

If you are swiss meringue buttercream fans, you are absolutely going to love this! so try it out next time you're baking up some oreo cupcakes! You'll thank me for it!

Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes:

Makes 24 regular and 18 mini

From The Red Deer

170g unsalted butter

150g dark brown sugar

3 large eggs, separated

225g dark chocolate (Valrhona 66%)

2 tsp vanilla extract

250g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb of soda

 365g semi-skimmed milk

100g Oreo chunks

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Line your cupcake pans with cases.
In each cupcake case place half an Oreo, the half with the cream filling still on it.  Put the other half to one side to be used later in the frosting.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in egg yolks.  Mix in vanilla and melted chocolate.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.  Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the butter/sugar mixture.
Crush Oreos in a blender, or a zip loc bag and a rolling pin if you don't have a blender.  Stir in Oreos.

 In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until peaks form.  

Fold the batter into the egg whites.
Fill cupcakes cases 2/3 full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (regular) and 10-15 minutes (mini) or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Leave to cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Oreo Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Makes enough to frost the above

From Family, Food and Fun

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tbsp caster sugar

pinch of salt

450g unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

20 reserved Oreo halves, crushed in a blender

Oreo cookies, cut in half for decoration

Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, beat unti stiff (but not dry) peaks form.  Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter two tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Once all the butter has been added, whisk in the vanilla.  Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all the air bubbles are eliminated, about two minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth.  Add crushed Oreos and fold in well.

Pipe the frosting on to your cupcakes and decorate with Oreo halves.

I'm sharing these for Cupcake Tuesday over at Hoosier Homemade.