Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes

Today I am sharing my recipe for these Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes with you. Moist, almond cupcakes, with a swirl of, pink streaked, raspberry ripple buttercream on top. And today these are definitely my favourite cupcakes ever. While I also may be a little bit obsessed with the buttercream frosting!

So, could you resist one or two of these delicious cupcakes?

I couldn’t! As soon as these photographs had been taken I ate two of these. I wanted the flavour sensation to continue after eating the first cupcake.

A Gift Of Roses That Can Be Eaten!

Rather than giving roses for Valentine’s Day, or for other special occasions, why not bake up a batch of these delicious cupcakes? Also there are certain advantages to gifting these; they are easy to share and they are less of a dramatic statement than red roses, therefore more inclusive to groups of people that you love. Although, I can pretty much guarantee these Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes won’t last as long as flowers.

Valentine’s Day is about love, whether that be your significant other, your family, your girl or guy friends. Show some love this Valentine’s Day, especially to those who may feel unloved.

You may have seen there are a few raspberry and almond recipes on this site. As well as this Raspberry Almond Cream Cake. Because the flavours go so well together. While I enjoy creating new recipes and flavour combinations, there are a few classics that I could never mess with.

And these Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes bring two classic flavours harmoniously together. So that your taste buds will sing as you take your first bite.

Recipe: Makes 18 Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes

175g/6oz Plain White Flour

1.5tsp BakingPowder

175g/6oz Unsalted Butter – soft

175g/6oz Caster Sugar

30ml/2tbsp Milk

1/4tsp Salt

1tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2tsp Almond Extract – I use Nielsen-Massey 

For the buttercream

250g Raspberry Ripple flavour icing sugar – available from Sugar and Crumbs

125g/5oz Unsalted Butter – very soft

2-3tbsp Boiling Water

Pink Gel Food Colouring

Method: Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan, 325F, gas mark 3

Making And Baking The Almond Cupcakes

• First of all, line a cupcake tin with the prettiest wrappers you can find.
• In a bowl whisk together the butter and sugar until light and get and creamy.
• Add in the eggs, milk, almond extract, salt and sifted flour and baking powder.
• Continue whisking on a low speed until all the ingredients are just combined, stopping halfway through to scrape down the bowl.
• Add 1 dessert spoonful of cake batter to each cupcake case.
• Place the cupcake tin into the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

• The cupcakes are baked when they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed.
• As soon as the cupcakes are baked remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin.

• Place the cupcakes onto a cooling rack.
• And leave to cool completely before decorating.

Making The Buttercream Frosting And Decorating The Cupcakes

• Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.
• Add the softened butter and 2tbsp of boiling water.
• Whisk until light, fluffy and creamy, adding up to 1 extra tablespoon of boiling water to obtain the desired consistency.

• Fit a large piping bag (I use disposable ones for coloured icing) with a large, open star piping nozzle, I use Wilton 1M.
• Fold the bag back on itself, opening up the inside.
• Use a small brush and paint two lines of food colouring gel, in a line, from the tip, to approximately half way up the bag.
• The second line should be opposite the first.
• Place the bag in a stable container, I use a large jug.
• Fill the piping bag with the buttercream.
• As soon as the cupcakes are cooled, they are ready to be iced.
• Holding a cupcake with one hand and starting 1/3 down from the edge, pipe a letter e, keeping the pressure constant. As you get to the end of the e continue piping around the cupcake in one complete circle.

Practice Will Help You Nail Piping Skills

Piping the frosting on to these Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes was my first attempt at creating buttercream roses. And I’m really proud of how they turned out, especially as I am not a natural cake decorator.

Practicing is the best way to improve piping skills. Also, if you are unsure of how to pipe these look on Pinterest or YouTube, there are plenty of short tutorials showing you what to do.

When choosing from the vast array of piping tips available, if you want a professional, bakery style finish to your cupcake Wilton’s Large Open Star 1M is a great nozzle to start with.

With the cupcake above, keeping steady pressure on the piping bag, I started in the centre of the cake and piped in circles, building layers to create the classic cupcake swirl.

Additionally, it is worth making up a bag of plain icing and practicing different methods, so that you feel confident icing your cupcakes.

 

If you enjoyed these Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes you are sure to love these:

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Black Forest Cupcakes

Maraschino Cherry Chocolate Drizzle Cupcakes 

These Raspberry Ripple Almond Cupcakes are utterly delicious and the icing is very light. I enjoy using the natural flavoured icing sugars from Sugar and Crumbs however, you can easily use plain icing sugar and add a few drops of natural flavour extract.

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? And if so, do you keep the celebrations between you and your partner, or spread the love further afield?

Regardless of how you spend February 14th, I hope you know that you are loved (see Important Stuff).

So, whatever you are making, baking and creating in your kitchens, have fun preparing and sharing your feast.

Sammie xx

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