Almond Joy Cupcakes

Here is another great cupcake recipe from Lizzy over at Your Cup of Cake! I am enjoying sifting my way  through her cupcake recipes. One of the things I love about cupcakes is how easy they are to share! It keeps me from eating a whole cake by myself :) This is the Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes, also known as the Almond Joy Cupcakes. They are so tasty, and this is the best chocolate buttercream icing I have ever had, but I do want to find a way to make them a little more coconuty. 

Cake Ingredients: 

3 sticks of butter at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 eggs at room temperature 

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter milk

7 oz coconut (and some extra to sprinkle on top)

1. Preheat oven to 325 and line muffin tins with cupcake liners

 2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract, beat some more

4. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together

5. Starting and ending with the flour mixture, alternate adding the flour and the buttermilk to the batter, mix only until combined

6. Stir in coconut and fill cupcake liners to the top 

7. Bake for 20-30 minuets, or until a tooth pick comes out clean 

Chocolate Buttercream:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 cups powder sugar

1/4 cup of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract  

Almonds to top cupcakes with

1. Beat butter for 5 minutes

2. Slowly add cocoa and powder sugar adding small amount of milk in between

3. Add vanilla

4. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes- top with an almond and extra coconut

Mint-tastic Cupcakes

Andes Mint Cupcakes

While pregnant I felt a great desire to bake, but I had very little free time because I was swamped with my last semester of school, preparing for Cordelia, and being sick to my stomach- so I never managed to bake anything. When I came across this recipe I jumped at the chance to make it for the hubby for his first Father's Day (he loves Andes Mints). The recipe came from Your Cup of Cake, I stumbled across this blog and I have quickly become obsessed, I think I want to try all of her recipes. To see her post on the Andes Mint Cupcake click here    

Chocolate Cupcake:

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup water

1 box devils food cake mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners

2. mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together

3. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each one

4. Alternate adding the cake mix and the liquids (buttermilk &water), stir well

5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

As a note, I think I filled my cupcake liners a little too full so the tops of the cupcakes kinda spilled over when they baked- they still tasted good, but they didn't look as pretty. 

Chocolate Mint Filing:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together, I did this in the microwave but you can also do it on the stove-top over medium heat

2. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar

3. When the cupcakes come out of the oven use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcakes with the filling

Mint Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring 

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy

2. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract- beat well

3. Add green food coloring

4. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with an Andes Mint  

The hubby loved them and they were a huge success- and they are the prettiest thing I have ever baked too! I feel a new desire to cook, and bake so look forward to more food posts. 

Baking

My Hubby and I, between the two of us, have a very large family; so for the past three years we decided to give baked goods instead of "things" for Christmas presents. This year everyone got their own little bag (instead of larger boxes for couples / families) so no one had to share :) Each bag contained chocolate, pecan, and almond fudge, cookies and cream fudge, and little cocoon cookies. 

We also celebrate Christmas at three different houses, and this year we decided it would be nice to bring a dessert to each house! This is my grandmothers pound cake- it is the first time we managed to bake it correctly. We took it as an after breakfast snack at my mother in law's house. 

  I forgot to take a picture before we started to eat, but this is the Oreo crust, pudding pie, that my hubby made for our lunch dessert at my mom's house. (The crust was store bought, but the pudding was home made and really yummy)

Lastly, this is the white chocolate, hazelnut, pumpkin cheesecake I made for the dinner dessert at my hubby's father's family's Christmas dinner. It was a new recipe and delicious! It was fun to do all the baking, and I enjoyed spending the time with my husband, but I may not bake anything till next Christmas!