ALMOND CUPCAKES WITH WHIPPED ALMOND BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Literally years. Almond cupcakes are not new to me. My family has been eating almond cake since forever, at least my mom has due to her Dutch roots. Us kids hopped on the band wagon pretty darn fast when she introduced almond desserts to us. Let’s just say we fell…and fell hard.

We fell in love so hard that my sister served almond cake at her wedding and I served the exact same cake at mine. Don’t worry! I have a recipe for almond cake on the blog as well…it’s also a good one!

Not sure where all the rambling is coming form…please ignore me. Anyway, Almond Cupcakes with Whipped Almond Buttercream Frosting are a must have recipe!

A MUST HAVE.

Hands down one of the loveliest cupcakes out there.

Ingredients

Almond Cupcakes
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons almond extract
1 cup buttermilk or whole milk, room temperature
Whipped Almond Buttercream Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
3 sticks unsalted butted, room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup boiling water
Decorative sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners; set aside.
In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a stand-along mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (hand-held mixers work too), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
Next add eggs, almond extract, vanilla extract and mix until smooth (mixture may have a few lumps which is ok), scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
Lastly, add one third of the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed until just combined then add half of the milk, mix until combined, again add another one third of the flour mixture and mix until combined then add the other half of the milk and mix until combined. Finally add the last of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Evenly spoon batter into cupcake liners, about ¾ full each and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, mine baked for about 17 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife in the center of a cupcake, and if it comes out clean or with light crumbles on it, they're done! Pull them out, let them cool for just a minute and then remove from pan to fully cool on baking rack or counter.
To make the buttercream, bring the water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, add the powdered sugar to a stand-alone mixer fitted with a WHISK attachment. Add the boiling water to the sugar and mix for 4 minutes on low-speed until the sugar completely dissolves. Use a spatula to scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure no lumps of sugar remain.
Next mix in the almond extract, vanilla extract, salt and mix. Check the mixture to make sure it's at room temperature. If it's still warm, let it cool slightly before adding the butter.
Finally, add the room temperature butter and turn the mixer on low-speed and mix for 3 minutes. The mixture will look watery and lumpy. Turn mixture to medium speed and continue to mix until frosting looks like whipped cream. This could 2 minutes or it can take 10 minutes - when it's done it will be fluffy and look similar to whipped cream. You may think it's not done because it will not look like a lot of frosting but it will be enough to frost the 12 cupcakes.
Frost cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.