Almond Joy

Honestly, I have no idea why people even enjoy Almond Joys. To me, not to offend anyone, they are definitely old people candy bars. The only people I know who like them my age are Hannah (she drinks black coffee and has a mature taste) and then Trent (and he is pretty much an old man. Sweats and house slippers c'mon!). I really don't like them so I didn't even bother trying them. I brought them to a meeting for a mission trip I am going on and my mother also brought them to her friends- who are, of course, adults. Not many people my age had a chance to try them, but I don't really think they'd choose to anyways.

Photographed by Cristal Juarez-Henderson

Before even making these my original idea was to completely dip them in chocolate as shown above.
See the half dipped ones in the back...yeah that's what a majority of them ended up being. I bake cupcakes...that's my thing. Dipping things in chocolate...nooot my thing. I was making a huuuuge mess. Cupcakes breaking, chocolate all over the counters and myself; everything was craziness! So I stuck with the whole dipping the top thing. For the topping I found various recipes for homemade Almond Joys and used the filling of that and pressed it on the top of my cupcakes. I then placed one almond on each cupcake and put them in the fridge to set. After they were stable I began the chocolate dipping disaster. I let them dry and viola! Almond Joy cupcakes! 

Photographed by me!

I'm in the mood to start posting the recipes I use. A little late in the game I know, but hey, this blog could continue on for years!

Moist ALMOND Cupcakes

(This is a half batch because I made mini cupcakes. It yielded about 42 cupcakes.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1 cups sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

1/2 cup heavy cream (room temperature)

1 tsp almond extract

1-2 Tablespoons sour cream

(I like to add lots of fat to my cupcakes..yuuumn :) )

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tray with liners. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream with the butter for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy).Add sour cream and almond extract until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and alternatively, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed. (Be careful not to over mix. Trust me I do it a little too often because it's so fun!)  Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean about 19 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack then store in an air tight container to lock in moisture. I found that with these it's best to eat them that day because they tend to lose their moist texture.

Adapted from Lick My Spoon: Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

Almond Joy Topping

I found a bazillion different, but oh so similar recipes, so I threw my own together.

Ingredients:

1 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand condensed sweetened milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar or less to taste

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

5 cups sweetened flaked coconut

42 almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl whisk together the milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Stir in coconut. (The mixture was pretty thick. You don't want a goopy mess, so if it is really wet add more coconut.)

Spread out almonds on a baking sheet and toast them in the preheated oven for about ten minutes.

While they're toasting, begin assembling the cupcakes. I put about a tablespoon of the coconut mixture on each cupcake. You really have to be willing to get your hands dirty when making these. I was using a spoon but I didn't have much control so I gave up and worked with my hands. Make sure to press down the mixture on the cupcake and it should be about a centimeter high on each one. After topping off each cupcake, press a toasted almond into each. Then put the cupcakes in the fridge to set before dipping them. (Took about thirty minutes)

Next, melt chocolate in anyway you please. I usually use the microwave but this time I put a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. (double broiler) Dip each cupcake top and place on parchment paper to cool. You should definitely attempt dipping the whole cupcake. Just because I suck at dipping things, doesn't mean you do! Best of luck  :)

Happy Cupcaking!