Almond Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Recipe
Sweet, nutty Almond Cupcakes filled with roasted strawberry sauce and topped with a delicious roasted strawberry buttercream. These cupcakes deliver flavour in spades making them a perfect sweet treat for any occasion.
Ingredients
Almond cupcakes
- 170 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 5 ml almond extract - optional
- 125 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 70 g almond meal (ground almonds)
- 45 ml whole milk
Roasted strawberry buttercream
- 200 g whole ripe strawberries
- 15 g granulated sugar
- 115 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 320 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar) - sifted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
To assemble
- 40 g flaked almonds - toasted and finely chopped
Instructions
Almond cupcakes
- Preheat the oven, prep the pan and cream your butter. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Place 12 paper cupcake cases into a cupcake pan.In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and beat on medium to high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Scrape the base and sides of the bowl half way through.
- Beat in the eggs. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the almond extract, if using, and beat again until combined.
- Sift flour and then add in dry and wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, add the almond meal and mix together. Add half of the dry ingredients into your stand mixer bowl and beat on low until combined. Add in the milk and beat again until mixed through. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and beat until just combined and a few streaks of flour remain.
- Bake! Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake cases, filling each one to ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Leave the oven on at 180°C (350°F).
Roasted strawberry buttercream
- Roast strawberries and blend.Prep. Hull and quarter the strawberries.Roast. Place them onto a half sheet baking tray. Sprinkle over the sugar and toss lightly. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the strawberries are softened, and juices have thickened and gone sticky. Toss the strawberries halfway through the cooking time.Blend. Remove from the oven and scrap strawberries and their juices into a blender or Nutri Bullet. Make sure to scrape in all the sticky bits too. Pulse until the strawberries are pureed. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate or freeze whilst making the buttercream, to cool the puree down.
- To make the buttercream, In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add your butter and beat on high speed for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add in the powdered icing sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and beat until the butter and icing sugar have combined. It may look a bit lumpy at this point. Add in 30 grams (2 tablespoons) of the strawberry puree and beat the buttercream for another 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in 15 grams (1 tablespoon) at a time to the buttercream if it is too thick.Note: If you add too much strawberry puree, then the buttercream may look curdled. To fix this, add in 25g (¼ cup) of icing sugar at a time and mix until the buttercream comes together again.
Assemble the almond cupcakes
- Fill: Using a small sharp knife, core out the centre of each cupcake, making sure not to go all the way through to the bottom. Fill the holes with a teaspoon of strawberry puree. (This step is optional). Any remaining strawberry puree can be stored in a sealed jar and refrigerated for up to five days.Pipe: Transfer the buttercream into the piping bag fitted with your favourite piping tip. I used an open star tip for this recipe. Then pipe each cupcake with a swirl of strawberry buttercream. Gently press the chopped almonds all around the sides of the buttercream; alternatively, sprinkle over the top. Serve immediately.
Notes
Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.
To store: Place cupcakes in an airtight container and store for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 4 days in the refrigerator. Allow cupcakes to come to room temperature before eating. Store leftover strawberry puree in an airtight container for up to five days in the fridge.
To freeze: Place undecorated cupcakes in a ziplock bag or freezer-safe container and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature. The buttercream can be stored in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to give it a good stir once it thaws to get the consistency nice and smooth again.
Strawberries. The strawberries have to be ripe and juicy for maximum flavour once roasted. If they aren't juicy, then place the strawberries into a bowl and toss them with the sugar. Set them aside to macerate for 20 minutes at room temperature to draw out their juices. Then place them and the juices onto a baking tray and continue to roast as per the instructions.
Toasted chopped almonds. To toast the almonds, place almonds in a frying pan set over medium heat on your stovetop. Toast until they smell nutty and turn a light golden brown. Make sure to toss them whilst toasting them to ensure even coverage.
TIP 1: Scrape the base and sides of your bowl frequently. do this through creaming the butter, when mixing in the eggs, and when making the buttercream.
TIP 2: Don't over mix the batter. When making any cake batter, we don't want to activate the gluten as this leads to a less tender sponge once baked. Stop mixing when you can still see a bit of flour in the batter.
TIP 3: The simplest mess-free way of portioning out the almond batter into the paper cases is to use an ice cream scoop. One level scoop per paper case usually does it!
TIP 4: Stir out the air bubbles from the buttercream. The aim is to have light and airy buttercream, but beating it can often lead to trapped air bubbles. Smooth the buttercream against the edges of your mixing bowl whilst stirring it. That releases the bubble and create a smooth mixture.
Nutrition
Calories: 437kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 5gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 155mgPotassium: 62mgFiber: 1gSugar: 40gVitamin A: 659IUCalcium: 59mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @emmaduckworthbakes or tag #emmaduckworthbakes!