It’s Valentine’s Day, and because we at BIK love our readers, we made you a cupcake recipe!  You can make these baby cakes for your very own babycakes or anyone else you love (such as your gals at BIK!).  It started as a plan to replicate this recipe from Martha Stewart Living and morphed into Orange-Almond Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream, with the icing swiped from a Gourmet macaroon recipe.  This cupcake recipe takes its flavor from almonds and orange zest, making a delicately scented, totally delicious cake.  The ground almonds enrich the batter and the orange adds a fresh, fruity note. (You can leave the ground almonds out, just bump the flour back up to 1½ cups).

Taking a page from wedding cakes, I brushed the cupcakes with melted orange marmalade before icing them, but I really wish I had thought to use amaretto instead. Doesn’t that sound naughty? I think you should definitely do that! And the jam makes spreading the icing a little more of a pain in the arse, but I think amaretto would not because the cake would absorb it more readily. But do whatever you like. The marmalade was delicious and totally worth doing.

About the icing: It is a little high-maintenance.  The BIK gals know a thing or two about high-maintenance, and we wholeheartedly believe it is not a bad thing.  Now, you could surely throw any old icing on here and it would be fine.  BUT – if you were to learn only one high-maintenance confection technique in the whole world, I think I would recommend this one.  It’s a Swiss buttercream, and it’s not technically difficult, just more time consuming than tossing a little butter and powdered sugar together.  The way it works is you basically make a meringue that looks an awful lot like Fluff (go, Fluffernutters!). It’s heated over simmering water to dissolve the sugar.  Then, you beat butter in slowly until it all comes together in a silky, luscious mound. If you’re wary of salmonella, I guess you should be wary of this recipe, as the egg whites are heated but not enough to kill all the shady stuff.  A number of icings use egg whites in various ways.  If you’ve ever made Italian buttercream, that is a close relative of Swiss buttercream.

Why go to all that trouble?  This is restaurant icing — the silky, buttery confection that makes bakery cakes special. It’s smooth, not-too-sweet and totally addictive. Luckily, the recipe makes more than you need for the cupcakes. It freezes well, but I advise just keeping it in the fridge and spreading on graham crackers whenever the mood strikes (aka: all the time).  You don’t even really need a cupcake, just make up a bowl, grab a spoon and snuggle up with “When Harry Met Sally.”  That’s actually kind of my ideal Valentine’s Day.  But, if you’d like to whip up a proper dessert, make the cupcakes, too, sprinkle with almonds, and brace yourself for the flood of marriage proposals.  Happy V-Day, loves!

Orange-Almond Cupcakes

Loosely adapted from Martha Stewart Living

½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of one orange, finely grated

1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup ground almonds (processed in food processor until sandy)

½ cup whole milk (use skim if you like)

½ cup orange marmalade melted, or amaretto (about 1/3 cup)

Heat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and ground almonds. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy and well combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, extracts and orange zest. Beat in flour mixture, then milk, stopping when well combined. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake 15-17 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Brush with marmalade or amaretto, letting liquid soak into cakes for a few minutes, then spread with Almond Buttercream Icing.

Almond Buttercream Icing

Hardly at all adapted from Gourmet, but with notes and encouragement from BIK

2 large egg whites

½ cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

½ cup sliced almonds

Place clean bowl from electric mixer over a pot of barely simmering water, whatever size pot works with your bowl.  Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.  If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer, just prepare for a workout.  Also, if using a hand mixer, use beaters, not whisk attachment.  In bowl over simmering water, whisk whites, sugar and salt without stopping until mixture is quite warm and sugar is dissolved. It should look white and frothy.

Place bowl in mixer and beat with whisk attachment (only if using stand mixer) and whip at medium-high speed until cooled and whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. This can take a long time, so don’t give up. You’re getting close when it gets thick, sticky and shiny. It looks a lot like paint. Keep going.

Once you’ve achieved stiff peaks (this took me a good 10 minutes), add butter one piece at a time. The mixture will probably break and look grainy, but keep going. Beat well after each addition, and after the last of the butter is added. Add extracts and keep going. Don’t stop beating (except to scrape down the bowl) until it comes back together and makes a smooth, spreadable icing. It’ll all be worthwhile. Then spread it on the cupcakes, sprinkle with almonds and enjoy the fruits of your labor.