Having recently feasted on a Cumbs Bake Shop “Almond Bliss” cupcake (pictured), I thought to gather some almond cupcake recipes for you.

How about a Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Almond Buttercream and Raspberry Glaze?    The “Oh She Glows” blog site has both the recipe and fantastic photographs for step-by-step instructions, including a video to guide you through piping.

Or, how about Honey, Lavender, and Almond Cupcakes, complete with the directions for making your own lavender milk for the frosting?  The recipe from Lily Vanilli in England is in metrics, but worth the math exercise to get you there!

Finally, from the Love & Olive Oil site, let’s go for the Vanilla Almond Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting.  This yummy recipe includes almond extract, vanilla bean seeds, and coconut milk.

I recently discovered Fantasy Cupcakes on line, a lovely UK bakery that won a gold heart prize in the North West Fine Foods Awards, beating out 400 entries in the general foods competition.

Vegan Mudpie Cupcake

So I e-mailed Fantasy Cupcakes to ask for their secrets at taking a vegan cupcake into the mainstream.  The owner, Melinda, thought that the bitterness of the chocolate was the primary flavor of the cake and that it lingered on the palate.

Here’s a list of Melinda’s tips for vegan mud pie cupcakes:

• Use a little apple cider vinegar in the sponge batter instead of soya milk curdled with vinegar;
• Mix the wet ingredients together and fold in the dry ones; and,
• For the frosting, melt rich, dark chocolate mixed with soya cream, leave it to set, beat in a little powdered sugar until a firm(ish) spreading consistency is reached, spread onto the cupcake in a dome shape with a small palate knife, and dust with a good quality cocoa.

Melinda said the frosting recipe was an adaptation from a recipe for a vegan chocolate torte which was a family favorite for years.

For my two pence, I’d recommend using Cadbury’s cocoa powder.  It’s make in the UK and has more bite to it than its US Hershey counterpart.