Marzipan-Filled Chocolate Almond Cupcakes with Marzipan Frosting

Marzipan-Filled Chocolate Almond Cupcakes with Marzipan Frosting

A few weeks ago, my friend Joyce bought me a cupcake pan specially for baking filled cupcakes! It has spines in the center of each cup to impale something that will then be secured in the middle of the cupcake (rather than sinking to the bottom during baking)! I've been dying to try it out, so this week I decided to do something filled.

Cupcakes:

1 cup blanched almonds (blanching removes the skin; you can blanch regular almonds yourself by pouring boiling water over them and letting them sit for a minute, then slipping off the skins)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla

4 oz marzipan (about 2/3 of a 7 oz stick)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

There are two methods you can use to prepare tins with spikes. The first dozen I did butter and flour, which is the best and most reliable method of getting cake to come out of the pan in one nice piece. Cooking sprays are never as good. The second dozen I didn't have the patience to do this way, so I just poked holes in the bottom of cupcake liners and used those.

In a food processor, process the almonds and 1/2 cup of sugar until fine ground. Transfer to bowl and sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time. Add in chocolate. Alternate in milk and flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add vanilla and mix briefly.

Roll the marzipan into small, marble-sized balls.

I tried adding the batter to the cups in two different ways. The first time I made the marzipan balls first and poured the batter around them. 

The second time I poured the batter in first and poked the marzipan balls on top.

I think the second method worked best; the first way caused the batter to weight to marzipan down to the bottom of the cupcake, even with the spike to sit on.

Bake for 12 minutes, turn tins, bake for 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Makes 24.

One more note: the original recipe I used called for coconut milk instead of buttermilk, but I didn't want that extra flavor competing with the marzipan. However, coconut milk is more oily that buttermilk and I think the cupcakes came out a bit dry as a result. I would recommend substituting 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup oil, or using the original measure of coconut milk to get a more moist texture.

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

4 oz. marzipan

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

3-4 cups xxx sugar

2-3 tbsp cream

1 tsp almond extract

Beat butter until fluffy; add marzipan and xxx sugar. The result will resemble a thick, white paste. Add chocolate and cream and beat until the frosting reaches the desired consistency. Add the almond extract and beat until mixed.

I more or less invented this frosting for the recipe; I included the 2 oz of chocolate because nice chocolate like Ghirardelli typically comes in 4 oz bars, so this will use up the extra chocolate left over from making the cupcakes. However, if that's a bit too much chocolate for you, you can definitely leave it out. The marzipan adds more texture and body to the icing, but the almond extract is where the flavor really comes from.

Frost your cupcakes generously.

Use any leftover marzipan to make decorations. Marzipan is easy to dye using regular food dyes, and you can roll and shape it like modeling clay. I used pie crust cutters to make colored leaves for decorations.

Cupcake recipe (considerably modified) from Epicurious.com

Frosting recipe by me.

Coconut Chick Cupcakes

Coconut Chick Cupcakes

These cuties can be made with any type of cake, to be honest, so use your favorite flavor! You just want to make sure it's something with a firm, sturdy texture that will stand up to be unwrapped, flipped over, and decorated.

Cupcakes:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour and baking powder. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time. Add in flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating batches. When everything is well mixed together, beat in vanilla.

Line your cupcake tin with plain paper or foil wrappers. Since you will be discarding them, make sure they're not pretty ones you like. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way, although you can vary the amount you put in each cup to create different sized chicks.

Bake 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 minutes. Let cool.

Makes 22.

Icing:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups xxx sugar
Vanilla

Beat butter until soft. Sift in sugar, and beat, adding in vanilla as needed, until frosting is creamy and spreadable.

Toasted Coconut:
Take about one big package of sweetened shredded coconut and spread it about 1/2 inch thick in a 9x11 baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Stick the dish in, and let the coconut toast, stirring about every 2-3 minutes. You'll know when it's done because it will be lightly browned and sort of crispy. This can take a while, depending on how thickly you have the coconut in the baking dish.

Decorating:
Icing
Toasted coconut
Red jellybeans
Marzipan, dyed yellow (large amount) and black (smaller amount)

Form small beaks and feet out of the yellow marzipan. My sister, who is a genius at marzipan sculpting, did the honors for this, and she is pictured here in triumph. You will want to make the beaks and feet ahead of time because the icing sets up fairly quickly and you want to be able to stick them on while it's still soft and adhesive.

Remove each cupcake from its wrapper and turn it upside down.

Ice it everywhere except the side that it stands on.

Using a serrated knife, slice the jelly beans in halves to make a comb on the head.

Gently push a beak into the icing,

 then take cupcake to the dish of coconut. Using your hands, pat coconut onto the sides until the chick is coated and looks fluffy.

Then put the feet on the plate and set the chick down on top of them.

Use a little extra icing to adhere the eyes (little balls of black marzipan). Voila!

These are super fun cupcakes and people get very excited about how cute they are. If you are not a fan of marzipan, you can try using almonds for the beaks and pushing tiny pieces of black licorice lace into the icing for eyes. Mix it up! There are no rules about what candy you need to use for decoration, so pick stuff you like.

If you toast the coconut ahead of time, instead of doing it at the last moment (as I did) the process will go a lot faster, too.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Dark Chocolate Tea Cupcakes with Sweet Tea Frosting and Marzipan Penguins

Dark Chocolate Tea Cupcakes with Sweet Tea Frosting and Marzipan Penguins

This weekend we celebrated the birthday of my great friend Liz. Liz likes tea, chocolate, and penguins, so these cupcakes were an exercise in combining the three in the best possible way.

Cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup loose-leaf jasmine tea

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine tea and milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer on the stove. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.

Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat together eggs and vegetable oil in another bowl.

Take the steeped milk tea and strain out the tea leaves. Save them.

Mix everything together until smooth. The batter is very liquid at this point.

Fill cupcake tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake 15 minutes, turn, and bake 15 minutes. Let cool.

Adapted from The Foodies' Kitchen.

Frosting:
The tea leaves you saved from before
1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, soft
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted.

Combine tea leaves and water and leave in the fridge to steep and cool, about 30 minutes. Strain out the tea leaves (this time you can get rid of them).

Meanwhile, beat the butter and shortening until smooth, and sift in the powdered sugar. Add the tea, then beat until smooth.

The icing will be a gorgeous pale brown color. If desired, you can tint it.

Adapted from Confesions of a Cookbook Queen



Penguins:
12 oz marzipan

Divide into three portions, one large, one medium, one small. Use food paste to tint the small portion orange and the large portion black. Make little penguins. Use magic if necessary.