Cinnamon cappuccino cupcakes with almond frosting and cinnamon toffee crunch
8 Jun
After spending a few hours pouring through some of my baking books during vacation, I came up with quite a list of flavor possibilities. However, I was stumped as to which one to select, so I sent the list to one of my nearest and dearest friends Rach and let her pick. Because, ya know, sometimes you need to have someone else make a decision for you.
She’ll also be the Cupcake Czar in 2 weeks when she comes down to visit (so send all cupcake complaints to her about this and that week), but for this week she selected my musing on a cinnamon cappuccino cupcake.
Based off of my vanilla cake recipe, I added instant espresso (not brewed) and cinnamon. Ray thinks I could amp up the espresso, so I’ll be interested to see what my taste testers think. I wanted to venture away from just a vanilla frosting, and I knew a lighter-than-air whipped cream frosting would fail in the heat, so I opted to make an almond buttercream. For this batch specifically I used an imitation almond extract to make it safe for one of my favorite taste testers Kerrick (he’s been participating in the project since Day 1 and is on the top of my list for potential hires). Kerrick has an allergy to tree nuts, but the imitation flavoring is 100% nut free, so we’re in good shape.
Maybe my favorite part of this is the cinnamon toffee crunch. The recipe is adapted from Les Petits Macarons by Kathryn Gordon and Anne E. McBride. Their recipe is for a chocolate cinnamon crunch, but I feel like too many cappuccino cupcakes have chocolate crammed in to them (who puts chocolate in a cappuccino?), so I tweaked it for the rich, buttery taste of toffee. Luckily for me, the recipe yields about a cup and will keep for a month in a tightly sealed jar–it’ll be excellent on ice cream and other desserts, for sure.
Ingredients
Directions
Prior to starting the cupcakes, make the Cinnamon Toffee Crunch. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the sugar in a small pot (I used the bottom of my double boiler) and cook over medium-high heat until it turns a clear amber color. Do not stir except if the sugar is not melting down evenly. This should take about 5 minutes.
Once the sugas has caramelized, remove it from the heat and add the toffee bits and cinnamon. Stir quickly to incorporate, then pour onto the parchment-lined pan, spreading thinly.
Let it cool for 20-30 minutes, then break into large pieces, placing them in a food processor, Pulse 8-10 times until the caramel is broken into even-sized bits (some might become more powder-like, and that's fine.
Store the toffee crunch in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a month.
For the cupcakes, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Add the instant espresso and stir to combine. Set aside.
Whisk the egg for 20 seconds, then add the sugar and whisk an additional 30 seconds until thick and frothy.
Add the oil and vanilla, and beat until combined. Alternate the flour mixture and buttermilk and beat until combined.
Divide the batter between wrappers in cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely before coring and frosting.
For the frosting, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of sugar, beating until combined.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Finally, add the remaining sugar gradually and whip until light and fluffy.
Pipe the frosting on using a 1M star tip, zig-zagging along the top of the cupcake. Garnish with the cinnamon toffee crunch.
I love this combination of flavors. The almond, cinnamon and toffee took turns emerging as I ate it. I had to wait for the almond to finish before I could really taste the cappuccino, but then it was a nice finishing flavor. The total flavor was like having a toffee cappuccino with an almond biscotti. Very good.
Nice description! Maybe I should call it my Italian Cafe cupcake.
Almond buttercream is my new favorite thing! Wow! At first I was like what is this taste sensation??? Then once I realized I was like YES!!!! To me it’s the perfect accompaniment to espresso. It reminds me of all those wonderful Italian cookies from Termini’s.
Cake was delicious. I definitely tasted the espresso but agree with Ray that it could be bumped up for the next batch.
The cinnamon/toffee topping is perfect. I like that it wasn’t too sticky.
Another A+++
I thought the almond buttercream tasted like amaretto (makes sense), which is awesome…almond extract is a heck of a lot cheaper than amaretto and if I ever want to make the Lavender honey-nut cupcakes again (https://cupcakefridayproject.com/2011/02/lavender-honey-nut-cupcakes), then this can be my go-to solution. Though removing booze from a cupcake is a sad thing.
Um… omg. These are AWESOME. I don’t think I can say it better than Thorin and Julie – took the words right out of my mouth. LOVE the almond buttercream and this cake is so moist and delicious. WIN.
i LOVE the way you piped these!!! I’ve never seen anything like that before