Easter in Norway means skiing, mandarins (or oranges) and of course, eating loads of Kvikk Lunsj candy bars. Kvikk Lunsj if you remember are the Norwegian version of Kit Kat candy bars and are eaten en masse around Easter time. Kvikk Lunsj was created in 1937 and has been in production every year since, excluding 1941-1949 due to the Second World War. It’s reported that Norwegians eat in average nine Kvikk Lunsj candy bars a year, three during the Easter period.
Given that so many Kvikk Lunsj are eaten during this time of year in Norway, it seemed only fitting that I found a way to turn this popular candy bar into cupcakes! I’ve infused the buttercream frosting for this recipe with Kvikk Lunsj and made the cupcakes themselves with cocoa powder and mini-chocolate chips, just to give them that one-two extra chocolate-y punch. The resulting frosting is light and airy, with a few crunchy bits whipped in and the cupcake is do deep, dense and moist with chocolate flavour, you won’t know what hit you. These cupcakes get their moistness through the use of oil, buttermilk and coffee. The acidity in the buttermilk and coffee interact with the leavening agents in the recipe to give the cupcakes lots of lift, while the oil keeps them from drying out.
I like to use an ice cream scooper to ensure each cupcake is filled with the same amount of batter. If you don’t have one you can also eyeball it by pouring the batter into a small- to medium-sized pitcher first, then distributing into the cupcake tin.
- For the cupcakes - 360g (3 cups) flour
- 360g (1¾ cups) sugar
- 60g (1/2 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 150g (about 1 cup if you use the mini variety) dark chocolate chips
- 250ml (1 cup) brewed coffee, cooled
- 425ml (1 ¾ cup) neutral oil (sunflower, vegetable or canola/rapeseed)
- 250ml (1 cup) buttermilk
- 3 large eggs
- For the kvik lunsj buttercream frosting- 180g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 150g (1½ cups) powdered sugar, sifted
- Pinch of salt
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 8 bars (2 full-size packages) Kvik Lunsj candy bars
- Kvik Lunsj candy bars for garnish
- To make the cupcakes - pre-heat your oven to 160C/320F. Line your cupcake tin with cupcake liners or grease your cupcake tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the sugar to the sifted ingredients, and mix well with a whisk. You want the mixture to be uniform in colour, without any white or dark brown streaks. Finally add in your chocolate chips, then set aside.
- In a large-sized bowl, mix together the cooled coffee, oil, buttermilk and 3 eggs. Whisk together until well combined.
- Now that you have one dry mixture, and one wet, you will need to combine them. The best way to do this to ensure your cupcakes aren’t tough, is to add the dry mixture to the wet and slowly whisk it together to combine.
- Once everything is mixed together, pour the batter equally into the cupcake lined tin and bake for 22-24 minutes. The cupcakes are baked with a toothpick placed in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to remain in the tin and cool on a baking rack for about 10 minutes before removing them from the tin. Allow them to cool completely before piping with frosting.
- To make the frosting - unwrap the Kvik Lunsj and add them to a large zip top freezer bag. Roll and smash the candy bars until they resemble sand. Set aside.
- Add the butter to the bowl of standing mixer fitted with the K or paddle attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, to ensure all the butter and powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add the vanilla pod seeds and salt into the bowl. Mix until combined. Next, add the cream and vanilla extract. Mix again until combined.
- Increase the mixer speed and whip the frosting on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed Kvik Lunsj and mix until just combined.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and add decorate cupcakes with smaller pieces of Kvik lunch as garnish.
More versions of Kvikk Lunsj desserts:
Kvikk Lunsj-Kake (Norwegian – Freia)
Kvikklunsjkake (Norwegian-Tine)
Kvikklunsjkake (Norwegian-HeartShaped)
Read more about Easter in Norway
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In Canada, we would call them Coffee Crisp Cupcakes