Chocolate Glazed Almond Cupcakes

Ohmigod. I cannot believe how perfect these cupcakes are. These cupcakes are fancy cupcakes, like, wedding worthy cupcakes. They have the moistest golden almond cake you will ever have (seriously) and are topped with a rich dark chocolate ganache. Perfection.

Ingredients: Almond Cupcakes (the tiniest bit adapted from here), makes 18

1 and 1/3 cups granulated sugar

7 ounces almond paste

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided and spooned in and leveled

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

6 large eggs, at room temperature

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

1 and 1/3 cups chocolate chunks

1 cup heavy cream

Recipe: Almond Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line 1 1/2 cupcake tins with liners.

In a food processor, grind the sugar, almond paste, and 1/4 cup of flour until the mixture resembles sand.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt.

To the almond mixture add the butter and the vanilla and almond extracts, then process until the batter is smooth and creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time, processing a little in between. After you add all the eggs, the mixture might look curdled- that’s okay.

Transfer the batter to a bowl and mix in half of the flour mixture Stir in the other half until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown.

Let cool before dipping in the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Put the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.

Pour cream into a small saucepan over medium heat. When the cream comes to a simmer pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Let sit the ganache for 20 minutes before dipping the cupcakes unto it.

 

 

Enjoy!

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Almond Cake

It’s a slightly dense, slightly fluffy cake flavored with almond extract. I do not include the recipe for the frosting because it (unfortunately) separated and I didn’t think it was good enough for the blog. This cake is amazing, however and would be perfect with some whipped cream and fruit or a light, fluffy frosting.

Ingredients: Cake (I got it from The Perfect Cake but I use almond extract instead of vanilla)

1 and 1/2 plus 2 tablespoons pre-sifted cake flour

1 and 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup whole milk

Recipe: Cake Preheat oven to 375F and make sure there is a shelf on the bottom rack of the oven. Grease, line with parchment paper, grease again, and flour two 8×8 pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whip egg whites until foamy, then add 1 tablespoon of the measured sugar and whip until stiff but not dry.

In another large bowl beat butter until soft. Add remaining sugar and cream until completely blended into a granular paste. Beat in almond extract. With mixer on low speed, alternatively add the flour and milk to the butter-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

With a rubber spatula fold egg whites into the batter, using a light touch.

Divide batter between cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the layers in their pans on a wire rack for ten minutes. Then invert on the wire rack and cool completely.

Enjoy!