This last recipe, Sour Cherry-Almond Cupcakes, like the others, comes from Shelly Kaldunski's Cupcakes: Luscious Bakeshop Favorites From Your Home Kitchen. She didn't have a picture of this particular cupcake in her book, so I'm just going to load some really pretty cherries. ;)
Sour Cherry-Almond Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
Almond Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP sugar
1/4 cup almond paste
6 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup pitted sour cherries, roughly chopped
Vanilla Glaze (see recipe below)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the 3/4 cup sugar with the almond paste until the mixture resembled course meal. Add the butter and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined.
IN a large bowl, using an electric mixer with clean attachments on medium-high speed, beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat continuously until soft peaks form. Gently fold a third of the egg white mixture into the batter to lighten. Fold in the remaining whites and the sour cherries until no white streaks remain.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Bake 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
Vanilla Glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more as needed
2 TBSP whole milk, plus more as needed
1 tsp rose water
In a bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth; the glaze should be spreadable. If it seems too thick, whisk in additional milk a few drops at a time; if it seems too thin, whisk in additional sugar one teaspoon at a time. Use right away.
Spoon the glaze over the cupcakes and serve. Garnish with cherries, as appropriate.
The last thing I'll add in this massive 3-part post, is a picture of the cupcake topiary. I found this image at Attention 2 Detail, a blog dedicated to everything event planning. See what you think!
