HOLIDAY CUPCAKES

**This post is in collaboration with KitchenAid. They kindly provided a product for this recipe. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

• 21/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3.5 oz. almond paste
• ¾ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk

For the buttercream

• 6 cups confectioners' sugar
• 11/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preparation heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with foil or paper liners.
2. To make the cupcakes: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. Add sugar and almond paste into a food processor or blender and process until mixture resembles wet sand.
4. In a stand mixer bowl, fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and sugar-almond paste mixture, beat on low until mixture comes together. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. On low speed, beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, followed by the vanilla. Beating on low speed, starting and ending with the flour, alternately add the flour and milk, beating just until combined.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three quarters of the way full. Bake until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make buttercream: In a stand mixer bowl, fitted with a paddle attachment combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, almond extract and salt, beat on low until just combined. Increase speed to high beat until light and fluffy. If the frosting is dry, add 1 teaspoon of milk at a time to reach the desired consistency.
8. To assemble: Transfer buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip. Pipe frosting on top of cupcake.

Source:bakersroyale.com

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