Almond Cupcakes

In an effort to finally use up the last of my powdered almonds, I thought, why not cake? Those two bags lasted quite a long time. And to be truly honest, I have about a half a cup left. Arg.

Honestly, these came about because of a friend's birthday, and I do love a good birthday!

I also had a hefty amount of almond buttercream left over from making macaroons. Almonds are obviously growing on me.

It took me a while, but I dug up my cake-from-scratch recipe. Did you know that in my new kitchen, I have a whole drawer dedicated to cookbooks and miscellaneous internet recipes? It's like a magical drawer of ideas. Anyway, if cake mixes weren't so cheap and convenient, I'd always make cakes from scratch. I'd say it was easy, but look what happened when I declared macaroons easy to make.

Rather than two cups flour, I substituted one cup for the almonds. I was a little afraid the cake would be too dense and not rise. No worries, though. They came out the perfect combination of soft, fluffy, and moist, but not overly nutty tasting.

I busted out one of my mom's fancy decorating tips and beefed up the frosting I had (it was a little runny for my taste). No, I don't know why it's shiny in the picture.

Just for the record: did you know I don't use a digital SLR? I use my three or four year old Casio Exilim point & shoot. There's actually nothing very special about it. It's ooooold. But it still works like a dream. The fun added benefit of blogging means I get to practice taking pictures, too!