Chocolate Almond Joy Cupcakes

The desserts in the latest copy of the magazine I get centralize on a candy bar theme. Instead of making desserts reminiscent of the candy bars, the recipes incorporate them. I did that once, I made a cake with candy bars on it and it was major overkill. Instead of chopping and sprinkling Almond Joy candy bars over the cupcakes, I opted to just stick a couple of chocolate chips and almond slices into the frosting of each cupcake. If you're a Mounds fan, skip the nuts entirely.

Chocolate Almond Joy Cupcakes
adapted from Cooking Club of America
click to print

FILLING

1 egg white
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp powdered sugar
3/4 c sweetened flaked coconut

CUPCAKES
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp water
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

FROSTING
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 to 2 c powdered sugar, sifted
almond slices
chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk egg white and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract in small bowl until slightly frothy.


Whisk in 2 tablespoons powdered sugar until blended.


Stir in coconut.


Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl.


Whisk water, oil, egg, vinegar, vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract in medium bowl until blended.


Slowly whisk into flour mixture just until combined. (Batter will be lumpy.) Spoon into muffin cups.


Top each with scant 1 tablespoon coconut filling, gently pressing down so filling is even with batter.


Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean (making sure to avoid filling). Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely.


Beat cream cheese, butter and 1/8 teaspoon almond extract in large bowl at medium speed 1 minute or until smooth.


At low speed, beat in 1 3/4 cups of the powdered sugar, adding additional powdered sugar to desired frosting consistency.


Frost cupcakes; top each with sliced almonds and a couple of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Store in refrigerator; serve at room temperature.

Halved, you can see the how the coconut filling is seated in the finished cupcake.


These were fascinating little cupcakes and I liked the coconut filling, particularly how the tops of them were toasted a little bit. Baffling though is the entire lack of nuts, relying solely on the addition of chopped candy bars or, in my case, the nuts on top. I should've used a single whole almond though. Skip the nuts and call them Mounds cupcakes if you like.

I used way too much butter in the frosting - so much that even the cats wanted to eat it. And the recipe makes a lot of frosting. In this case it wasn't a bad idea since the baking time, even the minimum of 25 minutes, was too long. Mine turned out dry so almost all the frosting was welcome.

Cost:

• eggs: $0.62
• almond extract: $0.31
• powdered sugar: $0.42
• sweetened flaked coconut: $0.69
• all-purpose flour: $0.06
• sugar: $0.20
• unsweetened cocoa: $0.35
• canola oil: $0.44
• vanilla extract: $0.04
• cream cheese: $0.56
• unsalted butter: $0.21

Total: $3.90 or about $0.33 for each of 12 cupcakes.

Beef Meatballs with Orecchiette, Kale and Pine Nuts

After my last couple of pasta dishes, I took a pause for the cause. I didn't find them very good and haven't felt the need to maintain that streak. I'm hoping this one, a Ramsay recipe, knocks the shit out of the park and puts me back on a righteous pasta path.

I was a little hesitant about it because it seems really burly but with kale and pine nuts, it's gotta be good. Below is my Americanized version of the recipe with only slight adaptations.

Beef Meatballs with Orecchiette, Kale and Pine Nuts
adapted from Channel 4
click to print

4 tbsp olive oil, divided 1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced, 2 of them finely sliced
salt
fresh-ground pepper
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 lb ground beef
75 g fresh bread crumbs
3–4 tbsp milk
1 lb dried orecchiette
bunch of kale between 150-200 g, shredded
4 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat.


Sauté the onion and finely sliced garlic with salt and pepper, about 5 minutes or until soft and lightly colored, adding the chilli flakes after a minute or two.


Place the mince in a large bowl and add seasoning.


Put the breadcrumbs in a separate bowl and moisten with the milk.


Stir the breadcrumbs and onion mixture into the mince and combine well.


With wet hands, shape the mince mixture into small balls about 2 cm wide. Transfer to a lightly greased plate or tray and chill for 30 minutes until firm.

The meatballs will be smaller than an inch since there are 2.54 cm in an inch. My meatballs, all 74 of them, were refrigerated for 45 minutes while I made some frosting for cupcakes.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, according to package instructions.


Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the remaining one tablespoon olive oil.

I threw in one of the meatballs to see if it sizzled. After it started sizzling, I proceeded.

Brown the meatballs for 6 minutes until colored on all sides. Drain and discard fat.


Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes until tender.


Add the kale and season. Sweat the kale over a medium heat for 5 minutes with a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta.

Ok, so my kale wasn't exactly shredded.

Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then stir in the pine nuts.


Drain the pasta, reserving a few tablespoons of cooking water.

After cooking for 8 minutes, I drained the pasta, neglecting to reserve some cooking water.

Tip the pasta into the pan with the meatballs and stir over a medium-low heat until well mixed.


Add a good handful of finely grated parmesan, and mix well with a little cooking water to help coat the pasta.


Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve garnished with another grating of parmesan if you like.


I burnt the everlovin' bejesus out of my tongue and lip when making an attempt at determining whether the little ears were al dente. An ear was open-side down on the spatula and I slurped it off the tool, finding that there was a little pocket of boiling water captured under the pasta. Damn. And then with that, I accidentally dumped the pasta cooking water out with the pasta. Damn! That was all because I scooped out the fat from the meatball pan and then thought the kale/garlic/meatballs were burning while I was clutching my face. Not my smoothest moments.

Nothing was burnt. The dish is a little dry so make sure to save some pasta water like the recipe recommends. And mine definitely turned out a little salty and I attribute that to my over-salting the pasta water. I put a lot of salt in the water and man, the ears were loaded with it. Maybe good for summer, especially days like this when it's 100°F and I'm sweating like a big cow, and the ol' sodium-potassium pumps are running low on juice. Meaty, loaded with pasta, with surprising and tasty pine nuts. I wish I had the full 200 g of kale instead of just 156, so get a big bunch. Next time, I'll do just that.

Overall, this was a somewhat busy little recipe that took a little longer than I'd expected but the flavors make up for it. My favorite part? How the orecchiette are thick and toothsome and shaped like little bowls just large enough to contain a little meatball or a couple of pine nuts.

Cost:

• olive oil: $0.24
• onion: $0.30
• garlic cloves: $0.24
• ground beef: $2.99
• bread crumbs: $0.60
• milk: $0.09
• orecchiette: $3.99
• kale: $1.49
• pine nuts: $1.81
• parmesan cheese: $0.06

Total: $11.81 or about $2.95 for each of four huge servings or $1.97 for each of six smaller, but still filling, servings.