Jamoca Almond Fudge cupcakes

Ice Cream translated into Cupcake-ese

Don't you hate it when your mother is right?


I mean, obviously I don't really hate it but when I have an idea and she breezes in and smugly improves on it...even though no one asked her...like when I was making lemon tahini and she suggested garlic powder and really, who puts garlic powder in a fresh dressing but I begrudgingly did it and dang it if the matriarch wasn't right again...


After the maple-bacon (BACON??!??!) cupcakes, I didn't really know where to go with the next combination. I've been toying with a tiramisu idea, and there are some others percolating in my brain, but nothing seemed particularly interesting just now.

Breeze in She Who Must Be Obeyed (and I don't care if Rumpole refers to his wife as such - if your mother is doing her job you might as well think of her the same way. She'll like it.), who breezily breezes that Jamoca Almond Fudge would be a good cupcake.

This, from the parent who doesn't really like cupcakes!

So maybe Jamoca Almond Fudge is my favorite Baskin Robbins ice cream flavor - although I don't think I've set foot in a 31 Flavors since high school - how come she got to think of it first? Because as much as I hate to admit is, she's right (again) and it makes a mighty fine cupcake, indeed.

The cake is a very tender sponge-esque cake, with added oomph from almond meal (I got mine from Trader Joe's, but you can just whizz some almonds in your food processor). The filling and top rosette are an espresso buttercream, ganache is the fudge top, and toasted almonds add crunch.

I might as well warn you right now: when these cupcakes came out of the oven, they were uggggly. They spilled over the muffin cups and spread their flat tops into one another. They were so ugly I didn't even take a picture.

Still, nothing daunted, I pried the cakes out of the tin, trimmed off the edges, and sampled one. Delicious! I could cover up flaws with frosting, because these cupcakes are too good to waste. You can see for yourself that the end result is not too shabby.

Maybe they don't pop right out of their foil liners. These are not just anyone's cupcakes. You have to really want one. You have to commit to licking the wrapper. If you're willing to go to those lengths to appreciate these conditions - then I have a cupcake for you! And a napkin.

~ Almond Cupcakes ~

Recipe (slightly) adapted from here

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line 15 cupcake wells with paper liners.
2) In a small bowl, mix together flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3) In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter until well combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond extract. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two additions of buttermilk. Beat until combined.
4) Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack.

~ Coffee Buttercream ~
1/4 cup hot, strong coffee
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 - 4 tablespoons milk (or cream)

Dissolve espresso powder into the hot coffee and set aside to cool. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until it is smooth. Slowly beat in 2 cups powdered sugar. Add in coffee mixture and salt. Add in remaining powdered sugar, and enough milk to get the frosting to a pipeable consistency. You can always add more powdered sugar if your frosting gets too soupy.

~ Chocolate Ganache ~
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Chop up the chocolate and set aside in a medium bowl. Heat cream and butter together over medium heat and let come just to a boil; mix in the espresso powder until dissolved. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for a couple of minutes; chocolate and cream mixture until well combined. Allow the ganache to cool for 60 - 90 minutes, then beat with an electric mixer until the ganache is a pipeable consistency (5 - 7 minutes).

~ Garnish ~
Toasted slivered almonds
Chocolate covered almonds

Close up - look how tender that cake is! It fell right off the wrapper...

To assemble:
After cupcakes are baked and cooled, remove a cone-shaped portion from the top of each cupcake, saving the lid of the cone. Fill the cavity with a teaspoon or so of the coffee buttercream, then replace the lid over the filling.

Pipe the ganache on top of each cupcake, swirling from the outside of the cupSavedcake in. While the ganache is still soft, sprinkle on the toasted almonds. Chill the ganache-topped cupcakes for 15 minutes. Pipe a rosette of the espresso buttercream on the top of each cupcake and top with a chocolate-covered almond.

Makes about 15 cupcakes.

Maple-Bacon Cupcakes (BACON????)

Breakfast-y Goodness!

French Toast cupcakes with streusel topping, bacon bits, and maple cream cheese frosting (and more bacon!)

I've been thinking about this recipe for a long time. I admit that I've tried to stay off the "everything is better with bacon" bandwagon. I like bacon just fine - I like sausage better. But I've never been one to dip my bacon into my pancake syrup (for one, I prefer molasses), and I don't particularly even care for maple (keep your maple bars and give me chocolate, if you please).

Still, this combination has been nagging at me. I know lots of people who would be all over it, and let's face it, I rarely eat the cupcakes I make (save for the first one I try in the interest of science and all that). In short, it's not really about me, is it? I had to make this for the good of the people!

Still, after studying various blogs on the subject, I saw lots of maple cupcakes with maple filling and maple frosting and my maple-reluctant self just balked at the idea. However, this is a breakfast combination, no? And you know what I do love for breakfast? French toast. And you know what makes an excellent French toast? Pound cake does. 

And so, here we have a pound cakey-French toasty flavor combination of a cupcake. Topped with a cinnamon struesel for even more of a French toast homage. And now what?

For frosting, I knew I wanted to incorporate cream cheese (using the tanginess to combat that darn maple) and some cinnamon for spice. Plus, there's an (in)famous breakfast-y chain restaurant that stuffs its French toast with cream cheese (which I've never tried, but I'd like to), so the combination made sense to me. Voila. Frosting.

And originally, I was going to fill these with a maple custard. Lucky for you, dear reader, my guardian angel dropped the hammer of sense during the process (and how's that for mixing one's metaphors?), and the damnable stuff didn't thicken, so...the filling was scrapped. Really, that's a good thing, because although I usually prefer my cupcakes with filling, I think the sweetness would have detracted from the cupcake (and might have sacrificed some of the bacon bits in the cupcake itself, and heaven knows we can't have that), so it worked out just fine in the end. As it usually does.

All in all, this was a success. My mother, who didn't say so, but was doubtful about this one (plus she'd really rather I just make key lime cupcakes over and over again), pronounced them "quite good." My stepfather, who thought I was kidding when I told him my idea, found them the ultimate "man cupcake." And Lucas, the Fit and Amazing Man (or, FAM), ate three. 

Oh! Quick story, because if you ever come to dinner at my house, this is going to come up. We were discussing these cupcakes (before they were borned) around the dinner table, and I announced my intention to make maple bacon cupcakes. It went a bit like this.

Me: I'm going to make maple bacon cupcakes.

Sister mine: Ooh! That sounds good.

Me: Yeah, I'll be doing that soon.

~ chatter chatter chatter chatter - time passes ~

Darling Niece Mo': ... ... ... BACON?

~ general giggling at Mo's expense ~

~ chatter chatter chatter - how's your mama - what's for dinner this week - I think it's going to snow - chatter chatter chatter chatter ~

Me: Yeah, so anyway, I just need to get the maple syrup and some bacon so I can make the maple bacon cupcakes.

Darling Niece Mo': ... ... (blink blink) ... (Twilight) ... (Hunger Games) ... BACON??? REALLY?????

So if you ever hear any of us exclaim, "BACON???? REALLY?????", now you know why. Poor Mo's quote has been engraved into the family's Stone Tablet of Humiliation. Don't worry, Mo'. I've practically got one side of the thing covered.

~Recipe~
For the streusel:
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

For the cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract

1/2 cup cooked, crumbled bacon

For streusel: In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix the cold butter into the mixture by hand, squeezing the pieces in to mix it.

Chill the topping in the freezer while you make the cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, maple syrup, cream, and vanilla and mix well, until the mixture is smooth. Make sure all the flour is incorporated but be careful not to overmix the batter. Fold in any remaining flour from the bowl's edges as well as the bacon bits.

Fill each baking cup about 2/3 full. Divide the streusel evenly among the cupcakes, and sprinkle it on each one. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Maple Cream Cheese frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup maple syrup

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon maple extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream together butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. Mix in the maple syrup, and then slowly add in the powdered sugar. Add in the milk, salt, and flavorings and mix well. Add more powdered sugar if needed to get the frosting to a nice, pipeable consistency. 

Using a pastry bag with a large star tip, pipe a large frosting rosette onto the top of each cupcake, leaving an edge of the streusel topping exposed. Sprinkle the bacon crumbles onto the top of each cupcake. Store the cupcakes in the refrigerator.

Makes 24 cupcakes.