Nuts for Nutella

I love Wednesdays. It's so great to have the farmers market back and know I'm going to be able to indulge in Heavenly Delight every hump day. It's always a little easier to get out of bed 10-15 minutes earlier than usual when I know the result will be a sweet treat, and I love arriving at the HD booth to find out which new and unexpected flavor I get to try.

When my husband Camille and I went to Paris two years ago to visit his cousin, Alain, and his wife, Severine, we learned about the French penchant for the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella. I had never tried it until Severine served it one morning with croissants. It was quite tasty, and we ultimately bought some here at home to use as filling in homemade crepes, too.

You can probably figure out where this is headed: Upon arriving at HD's stand yesterday, what did I find? Yep! Nutella cupcakes. I had never seen that variety from HD, or from any other bakery, for that matter, and let's just say I snatched up that bad boy.

Was it really that good? In a word, yes. The cake and frosting were both flavored with chocolate and hazelnut, and the cake was gooey-moist. I had wondered, as I often do about HD cupcakes, if there would be a filling, but I wasn't even disappointed not to find one. It wasn't necessary in this cupcake. I would try this one again in a second. Out of 30-some HD cupcakes I've tried, this one cracked my top 10.

Later last night, I realized I wasn't going to be able to wait to try my other HD selection for the week, Chocolate Chip. Much like HD's traditional Heavenly White cupcake except with chocolate chips baked into the cake and sprinked over the vanilla frosting, the Chocolate Chip was an easy eat, much like a really great chocolate-chip cookie. Another quality cupcake.

It's good to be a cupcaker!