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| 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 ~
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
1/2 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
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.
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
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| 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.
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