Idea behind:
Almond and blueberry have long been partners in the flavour stakes but it is not an immediate choice, not like almond and cherry.
An almond cake and a blueberry jam are the main components. Icing to be either almond or blueberry flavoured - but yet to be determined.
Blueberry Element:
I felt the jam had a very homemade feel about it. Very plain and ordinary. In future I plan to develop the flavour for a much longer period of time. Also the added addition of the almond into the jam will marry the ingredients together.
I liked the jam flavoured icing. Not only did this colour the cupcake prettily, it added an extra kick of blueberry.
Dan wasn't as positive about the colouring and felt that the only kick should come from the jam alone. I feel that this needs to be looked at further when the almond element is sorted out.
Almond Element:
The toasted flaked almonds on the top need to be browner. Dan suggested laying a single toasted flaked almond on top. I feel this won't add enough crunch - but perhaps a whole blanched almond will.
Ground almond was added to the batter at a 2:1 ratio favouring the flour. It didn't make a difference to the flavour one iota. The texture was slightly heavier but hardly noticable.
Would also like to try adding extract to the jam and developing that further.
The strong almond flavour that can be found in marzipan and other almond flavoured goods cannot be achieved by using the store bought edible almonds available from supermarkets. This will include all variations including flaked, ground and whole.
The store bought almonds are of the 'sweet variety' whilst the flavour is extracted from the 'bitter' variety which may be poisonous and contains chemicals found in cyanide.
To have a more prevalent almond flavour, I intend to use either almond extract (readily available) or almond spice which I would need to source.
Initially, I only wanted to use flavours that I had extracted myself, to optimise flavour and reduce costs. This is the first obsticle I've come across and it so happens to be in the first recipe that I'm developing. I hope it doesn't happen in every case!
This recipe will not be able to go much further until the almond flavour is much much stronger.
Main Points:
- Source almond extract or almond spice to flavour jam, cake and icing.
- Toasted whole blached almonds for the top.
- Determine whether icing should be blueberry or not.
- Do not use ground almond in the cake.
BIG POINT! Read Harold before embarking on recipe development.
