Almond Raspberry Cupcakes, take 2.

Alright boys and girls...here's my second attempt at almond berry cupcakes! I'm still a little (well, a lot) disappointed with the icing. I think my problem is that I am following recipes that I have to reduce and I keep getting nervous that I'm going to end up with FAR too much icing, so I'm not adding enough of certain ingredients. The end result is a more saucy, albeit delicious icing.

I'm going to repost my recipe, exactly how I made it. If you have any good ideas/recipes for THICK icing to top these bad boys with, please leave me a comment, or shoot me an email (peacelovebagels [at] gmail [dot] com)

for cupcakes:
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour (can sub all purpose or regular whole wheat or a mixture)
½ cup almond meal**
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
½ cup applesauce (or sub butter or margarine)
½ cup almond milk
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract

for raspberry sauce:
1 pint fresh raspberries + 12 extra to top c-cakes
½ cup water or choice of juice (or ¼ cup agave and ¼ cup juice/water)
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with enough water to form a paste
½ tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, agave nectar, and juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, stir in the vanilla and the cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir as the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, baking soda. In a smaller bowl, cream applesauce (or butter) and sugar for about two minutes. Stir in egg whites, almond milk and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring together until just combined.

Prepare muffin/cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Fill cups about ¼ full, then add a spoonful of raspberry filling, then finish filling with cupcake batter until they’re about ¾ full. Watch out, they bake up pretty big, err on the side of less. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

(Ta-da!!)

When cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with a knife or any desired piping tip. Use another tip or spoon to drizzle remaining raspberry sauce on top. Top with extra raspberries, if you have them ENjoy!

**NOTE: almond meal can be made by grinding almonds in a food processor, blender or coffee grinder (I find this the best use of my coffee grinder and it works better than the other two)

For the frosting:

4 large egg whites

1 cup demara sugar

1 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾-1 cup powdered sugar

3 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160° F and the sugar has dissolved.  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.  Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated.  If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more.  Stir in the almond and vanilla extracts and mix just until incorporated.