Almond Butter: Take Two (this time there's a cupcake)

On Tuesday, I told you about my almond butter fiasco. Well... after that disaster, I found almond butter at Bi-Low. (Who knew?!) I used the almond butter to put together my Cupcake Hero November: Nut Butter entry.

Blackberry Almond Cupcakes
A moist, vanilla almond eggless cake topped with almond nut butter icing and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

But wait... just beneath the surface lurk...



Two different fillings. I was inspired to double fill these cupcakes by a donut I had at a Tim Hortons in Maine. This ridonkulously decadent donut was filled with both jelly and icing. Having enjoyed the experience very much, I decided to cupcake it. And why not cupcake it with a nut butter icing?

For the icing bit, I made up a thick almond butter icing. To complement that icing, I chose a blackberry jam.


As you can see, the result is visually fantastic. And though one taster thought the effect was a bit peanut butter and jelly, she loved the flavor of the almond butter icing.

All other tasters were unavailable for comment, as the cupcake rendered them speechless. There were a lot of "oh man"s and "wow"s and "ungh"s. High praise indeed.

Without further ado, here are the recipes.

Super Moist Vanilla Almond Cake
modified from Love and Olive Oil

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.

Whisk oil, almond milk, and vanilla bean paste together in another bowl. Then pour into a well in dry ingredients. Stir until mostly smooth and pour 1/4 c of batter into each liner. (Cupcakes will dome up nicely.)

Bake 20-22 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

Almond Butter Icing (for filling)
based loosely on allrecipes' Fluffy Peanut Butter Icing

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup almond butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon almond milk (use more if icing is too thick to use as filling)

Blackberry Jam
adapted from Sandra Lee

Stand in jam/jelly aisle for a good few minutes.

Debate worthiness of different fruit jams as they pair with your vision of an almond butter cupcake.

Pull jam (any jam) from the shelf, examine it at length, replace it on the shelf, and leave the grocery store with a jar of Blackberry Jam.

Almond Butter Icing (for frosting)
adapted from this girl

Take remaining almond butter filling and slowly add almond milk until icing is thin enough to spread easily.