I was inspired by this cupcake but I didn't like that the only part of the cupcake that resembled an almond joy was the topping. After much thought, this is what I came up with for the special occasion...
Almond Joy Cupcake (original recipe) Yields 18
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine eggs, water (3 tablespoons) and extracts.
3. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix in cocoa mixture and butter. Beat for one to two minutes until well combined.
4. Add egg mixture in two parts.
5. Fill 18 greased muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean.
Coconut Filling (inspiration)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flaked coconut
1 dollop sour cream
1/2 cup of half and half or whole milk (the original calls for whipping cream but I never seem to have any...)
1. Stir cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water and almond extract together in a bowl.
2. Bring milk, butter and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Remove.
3. Add cornstarch. Stir in coconut and sour cream.
4. Cover and chill 8 hours.
* Ahem. This created a nice big mess. This mixture did not firm up at all like I was hoping it would with the cornstarch. I'm preeeetty sure that's because I added too much water to the cornstarch. But I worked with it regardless. It was soupier than I was hoping... but it was delicious.
Chocolate Buttercream (Wilton's)
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 + 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or almond!) extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1. Cream together shortening and butter. Add cocoa and vanilla.
2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well at a medium speed until combined. ten.
3. The icing will look "dry". At this point, add the milk and beat at medium speed until fluffy.
4. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
Chocolate Covered Almonds
54 whole unsalted almonds (enough to put three on each cupcake)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1. Melt chocolate chips and butter in microwave. If the mixture is not melting quick enough, or is chunky, add more butter and heat again. Stop and stir often.
2. Dunk almonds in chocolate and place on wax paper to dry.
3. Put in refrigerator to finish cooling.
NOW!!! That's a lot right? I know. It was. But sooo worth it, trust me.
Like I said. Those Almond Joy cupcakes I saw online were a little lacking but I couldn't quite figure out what to do to make them even better. Then, as I was flipping through Martha Stewart's cupcake book, I realized that these cupcakes needed to be layered! Here is what I did:
1. Cut cooled cupcakes in half horizontally.
2. Spoon almond/coconut filling onto bottom half. (These cupcakes were a little dry so I spooned some of the extra creamy bits of the mixture on the insides of the cupcake so it would absorb it and hopefully become more moist. It worked! Thank goodness for that soupy mixture, right?)
3. Pipe a circle of buttercream on top of the coconut layer and sandwich the cupcake,
4. Pipe more buttercream on top and garnish with chocolate covered almonds.
Voila!
These cupcakes got rave reviews. Steven thinks they're the best things ever. Which is exactly what I was hoping for! I was pretty impressed myself. Maybe I will make them again for seven months... :)
¡Feliz seis meses!
