Chocolate Almond Acorn Cupcakes

By vealam

Ingredients

• For the Cupcakes:
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• For the Frosting:
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• For the Acorns:
• 15 mini vanilla wafers
• 15 mini chocolate chips
• 15 almond Hershey Kisses
• 10 almonds, finely chopped

Details

Servings 15
Preparation time 25mins
Cooking time 45mins
Adapted from garnishandglaze.com

Preparation

Step 1

For the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 15 cupcake liners.
Mix flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
Place butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit two minutes. Mix until smooth and then add in the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry until smooth.
Pour ¼ cup batter into each paper liner. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Leave cupcakes in tin for 5 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.

For the Frosting:
Beat butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in extracts and salt. Add the sugar and begin mixing at a slow speed and gradually turn up the speed and cream 2-3 minutes.

For the Acorns:
Using a toothpick, place a dot of the icing on the bottom of a mini chocolate chip and stick it on the top of a wafer and repeat with remaining chips and wafers.
Dab the bottom of each Kiss with a little frosting and then stick it to the bottom of a wafer.

Assembling the Cupcakes:
While the cupcakes cool, make the acorns. Once the acorns are made use the remaining frosting to pipe onto each cupcakes. Top with an acorn and then sprinkle with chopped almonds.