Almond Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Recipe inspired by: allrecipes.com Almond Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

I was having a caramel craving and went in search of a something I could make with everything I had on hand in my cupboard already when I found this recipe. I had never had 'salted caramel' anything, so I was intrigued by this recipe. I also like that the recipe only makes 12 cupcakes - much less time consuming than the traditional 24. I had everything I needed to make these little beauties, so I went to work!

The cupcakes turned out great! They are moist, delicious, and super airy and light - I like that! They actually taste like a Christmas cookie. To taste the cupcake alone you really get a strong almond taste, but with the addition of the salted caramel frosting you get sweet, rich, and nutty that pairs nicely to create a great flavor combination!

Of course, I changed up the recipe just a bit:

Cupcake

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1 vanilla bean, seeded (or you can use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

1 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup whole milk

Caramel

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla (more to taste if you prefer)

1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pinch of salt

Icing

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioner's sugar
Caramel (reserve about a tablespoon or 2 for drizzling)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I used 1 teaspoon, but I suggest starting low and adding as needed to taste)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.

Starting with the cupcake ingredients, in a mixing bowl cream together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup softened butter until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined. Stir in the vanilla bean seeds (or extract) and almond extract. Gradually beat in 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder and 1.5 cups all purpose flour. Mix in 3/4 cup whole milk until well blended. Scrape down sides as necessary to get everything combined nicely.  Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake liners to about 2/3 full and bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes. When done, the tops will bounce back when lightly pressed.

While the cupcakes are baking, start on the caramel. Place 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, and 1teaspoon vanilla into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil; then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened about 3-5 minutes. Let cool until just warm to the touch. After cooling, add the cream a little at a time - mixing after each addition - until the caramel is the consistency of honey. I used about 1/4 cup of cream. Mix in a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust vanilla if needed. Let cool to room temperature.

For the icing, Combine 3/4 cup softened butter with 2 cups confectioner's sugar and at least a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt in a mixing bowl (If you are using salted butter you can omit the salt). Beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is fluffy. Slowly add the cooled caramel and mix in until the frosting is smooth. I reserved about a tablespoon of the caramel to drizzle over my iced cupcakes.  If piping the frosting, you may need to chill in the fridge for a bit to stiffen.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost as you like and enjoy!

Independence Day Cupcakes

Red, White, and Blue and yummy too!

How perfect are these for your 4th of July Celebration?!!  

Don't think this is just a pretty face either - this cupcake is as delicious as it is pretty. It is filled with vanilla pudding and topped with a homemade whipped topping and fresh fruit  yum yum yum

Just a note about homemade whipped topping - it's awesome! Well worth the little bit of extra effort!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 egg whites
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1 (3.4 oz) small package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups skim milk
• • Thinly sliced strawberries (smaller strawberries work better for this recipe)
  • Fresh blueberries
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• 
  Directions
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• 
  
• With a pastry cutter, chop the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture becomes crumbly, then beat in the egg whites, vanilla extract, and 1 cup of milk to make a smooth batter. Spoon batter into the paper-lined cupcake cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
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• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 22 to 26 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.
• 
  
• In a bowl, beat together the pudding mix and 2 cups of skim milk until the pudding is thickened, about 2 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes to finish thickening. Spoon the pudding into a pastry bag with a medium tip.
• 
  
• To fill and decorate cupcakes, use a thin paring knife to cut a small hole, about 1/2 inch in diameter, into the top of a cupcake. Insert the knife about 3/4 of the way down into the cupcake, and remove the core. Use the pastry bag to fill the hole with pudding, piping in enough pudding to fill the hole flush with the top of the cupcake. Frost the tops of the filled cupcakes with whipped cream (see recipe below), spreading it into a smooth layer.
• 
  
• Place a blueberry in the center of each cupcake. Around the blueberry, arrange 5 slices of strawberry, pointed ends outward, to make a star shape. Store in refrigerator.

• 
  
• Whipped Topping

• Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • • 
      

  Directions

  In a chilled small mixing bowl and with chilled beaters, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until soft peaks form. 

• Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com Independence Day Cupcakes

Pistachio Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

This has been quite a week! I am so glad it is Friday! Yesterday, the needle on the stress meter went through the roof when I got numerous automated calls from the college that there was "an incident"!

Madison attends college in Savannah, Ga.  Her school campus is the Historic District in the city of Savannah - the school has over 70 buildings within the city! The incident was a gunman initially on the loose and then barricaded in one of the upscale, landmark restaurants right down the road from Madison's dorm!

Of course, the District being 1 square mile, everything is right down the road 

The school acted quickly and locked down all buildings advising students to stay inside. The police, too, shut down much of downtown to keep people away from the area.  

SWAT surrounded the restaurant; sent a robot inside; then entered the building and apprehended the perp (HA - love cop show talk)

Even though I was in contact with Madison and knew she was safe, I was still shaken by this event.  Thankfully, no one was hurt and all is back to normal. Just a little excitement to get the kids ready for finals!

With the stress level at an all-time high, I had to get some relief!

So, I took some time out and baked....ahhhhhhhhhhh

I made these Pistachio cupcakes that are the prettiest shade of green - Perfect for St. Patty's Day!

They make me smile (green is, after all, my favorite color)

I was going to frost them with a chocolate butter cream...as suggested in the recipe, but I had a couple strawberries on hand and decided they would be more refreshing with a strawberry cream cheese frosting (not to mention how pretty the pink and green look together) Boy was I right! These little pieces of heaven are definitely refreshing!

Hard to eat just one! The fresh strawberry taste comes through and pairs nicely with the slightly nutty flavor of the cupcake - yummmm yummmm yummmm

Cupcake

1 box White Cake Mix

1 box Pistachio Instant Pudding (3.4 oz)

4 Eggs

1 cup Buttermilk

1/4 cup Oil

1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

3/4 cup Sour Cream

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan (makes about 24)

Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract, and sour cream together in a good sized bowl.  Add cake mix and pudding; combine until just incorporated.  Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 full and bake for about 15 minutes.  The tops of the cupcake should spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and let cool.

Frosting

1 cup Butter, softened

8 ozs Cream Cheese

1 lb Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 cup chopped Strawberries

In a bowl of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment, cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy - about 3-4 minutes. Occasionally scraping down bowl. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until incorporated. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Add strawberries and beat until they are chunked up really well. If you are piping the frosting onto the cupcakes you will need to get these really chunked (is chunked a word? hmmmm...I guess it is now) up so they don't clog up your tip...learned that the hard way!  Put frosting in freezer for about 20 minutes to stiffen up if needed. Then frost cupcakes as desired. Store these in the fridge.

Cupcake Bouquet

This would make a sweet Mother's Day gift!

BONUS - it was easy and inexpensive. The biggest cost was the strawberries and they are on sale

Here is how I made it...

Obviously I had to make cupcakes first.  I used Lemon Cupcakes (I seem to be on a lemon kick right now), but you can use your fave. Be sure to refrigerate them before assembling your bouquet so the icing can harden.

 You'll also need a cute vase or pot (If you don't have one on hand, you can pick one up relatively inexpensively - mine was only $1), Styrofoam, toothpicks, and strawberries or tissue paper.

Be sure the Styrofoam fits snugly in your vase or pot - try it out at the store before you bring it home! Now place the Styrofoam into the vase/pot like so...

Next you put your toothpicks into the Styrofoam.  This vase has a square opening just big enough to fit one cupcake on each side, so I put two (2) toothpicks in the center of each side.  Place them so one cupcake will fit over both toothpicks.  I also placed a cupcake in the center, so I needed 2 toothpicks there as well

Now that all of your toothpicks are in place, pop on those cupcakes!

Be careful not to smudge the icing!

One on each side....

And one smack dab in the middle - right on top!

Next, place 1 toothpick where ever you see an empty spot that needs filling, and this is where you will put the strawberries.  1 toothpick will be enough to hold 1 strawberry, so no need to get all crazy with the toothpicks!  I put the toothpick in the Styrofoam first and then stuck the strawberry on the toothpick.  Try to get strawberries that are on the smallish side...the bigger ones (like many of the ones I have) make it difficult to push them down in there to fill the empty spaces.  Your bouquet will look better if you get all those spaces filled up nicely! Chocolate dipped strawberries would be good too!

You can also use tissue paper to fill in the spaces.  Pick your favorite color that coordinates nicely with your vase/pot, and cut it into wide strips; fold each strip into an accordion and pinch the bottom and then just shove them into the spaces.  If they don't want to stay on their own, you can use double-sided tape to hold them in there.  Mine stayed just fine without any tape... I really like the added color

Once it is all assembled, place it in the fridge to let the icing harden again, and then you can use cellophane to wrap it up and tie a ribbon at the top for gift giving.  These are perishable, of course, so be sure to gift them within a day or two of making them - you don't want mom eating stale cupcakes!!