Simplicity

Sometimes I feel like the cupcakes I come up with are a bit complicated, especially when I'm layering flavor upon flavor. While the idea of making a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting is boring to me, I do think there's something to keeping things simple. Yesterday I went with a simple almond cupcake.

I used an almond cake recipe from the back of my Hello Cupcake! book. I used a plain white frosting that called for a bit of almond extract and topped the cupcakes with toasted almonds.

The cake portion turned out to be the best cake I've ever baked. It was moist and the texture was absolutely perfect (not too dense, not too light), and it was fluffy to boot. The recipe called for almond paste instead of almond extract. It made a huge difference. The almond flavor was definitely present, but more subtle than when I use almond extract. The natural almond oil in the paste also contributed to making a moister cake. I give all the credit to the recipe.

The frosting ended up complimenting the cake instead of the other way around. I've found that most people like it that way (I'm one of those frosting people that likes a little cake with my frosting). This is the first shortening based frosting I've tried. The beauty of this frosting is that it is not too sweet. It's the perfect frosting to let any cake shine. The frosting is a Better Homes and Gardens recipe.

Creamy White Frosting
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 pound powdered sugar
3 to 5 Tbsp milk

- Beat shortening vanilla and almond extract for 30 seconds.
- Gradually add 2 cups sugar.
- Add 2 Tbsp milk.
- Gradually beat in remaining sugar.
- Add enough milk a tablespoon at a time until frosting reaches spreading consistency.

I used a star tip to pipe several flowers over the cakes. I got this idea off of Pinterest. It was so easy; just squeeze out frosting right in the middle of the cake until you get the size flower you want, then stop squeezing. Repeat the process surrounding the middle flower. Each frosted cupcake immediately got a small piling of toasted almonds.

I toasted the almonds at 375 for 4 or 5 minutes. Toasting nuts brings out their nuttiness. I like to do this when nuts are topping cupcakes. I actually prefer not toasting nuts when they are going in a batter or being cooked in a dish.

I'd call this cupcake attempt my most successful thus far.