Toasted Almond Crunch Cupcakes

Ten years ago I wrote a book called Diner Desserts (Chronicle, 2000), which is a collection of recipes for some of my favorite comfort food-style desserts. I’ve been a lifelong diner fan, and over the years I’ve logged many hours hanging out in diners, eating pie, 

drinking coffee and gossiping with friends. I love the casual atmosphere and conviviality of the diner, and I love those rustic looking diner pies, the chocolate and butterscotch puddings topped with swirls of whipped cream, and the mile-high layer cakes. One 

of the cakes featured in Diner Desserts is a Toasted Almond Brittle Crunch Cake, layers of white cake frosted with an almond buttercream and sprinkled with a finely ground almond brittle crunch. It was inspired by the Good Humor Toasted Almond Ice 

Cream Bar—an iconic frozen treat and one of my top picks from the ice cream truck when I was a kid—and it’s delicious. I decided that this cake would also make a great cupcake, so I revamped the recipe a bit and turned it into a portable version of the original treat. 

The secret is to pipe the buttercream really high on the cupcakes, mimicking the look of the over-the-top-tall diner cake, and giving everyone the generous amount of frosting that they crave.

Butterscotch Pudding and Miss Flo's Diner

In 1999 I wrote my first cookbook, Diner Desserts. The subject was near to my heart, as I‘ve always loved the comforting food and friendly environment of the classic American diner. I went to college in Massachusetts, where it seemed like there was a diner on every

corner, and I visited them often. My friends and I hung out at Miss Flo’s, a real old-style New England diner in Florence with friendly waitresses and jukeboxes at every booth. Miss Flo’s is known for its outstanding corned beef hash, potato fritters and homemade pies-- simple food, made with real ingredients. Aside from the homemade pies and tall

layer cakes, my favorite diner dessert has always been a good creamy pudding, either chocolate or butterscotch. The secret to a great chocolate pudding is obvious—use high quality bittersweet chocolate. The secret to a great butterscotch pudding may be more

elusive, but for me it comes down to the combination of light and dark brown sugars with butter and a healthy amount of salt. The salt balances the sweetness of the pudding, and brings out the deep flavor of the brown sugars. And the bourbon? Well, it just works with butterscotch, though they never served it that way at Miss Flo’s.

P.S. The winner of the Great Cookbook Giveaway from my last post is.....[drumroll, please....]....Lauren! Lauren wrote an adorable rhyming poem about me, so I'd say she deserves to win just for all that effort. Lauren, congratulations and please email me your address when you get a chance and I will send off your books right away (tishboyle@gmail.com)...Thanks to all who took the time to enter!