Belated Versaries, Memorial Day, and Almond Joy Cupcakes

So many things are swirling around in my life right now. The Relay for Life is June 24th, and I still have a lot of work to do for that, I'm co-hosting a shower for my son's fiancee, in July and have many things to do for that, and my 91 year old father is failing, and I have a food blog. I have to step away from my blog for awhile.  That doesn't mean that you won't see me commenting on a few blogs once in awhile, but for now my family has to come first.  

Friday night my Dad was in the ER, because he had lost consciousness, while sitting on the bed, fell back and hit his head. He is in the a nursing home, and the aide was getting him ready for bed. He did have a concussion, but they're still not sure if had a heart attack or seizure, in addition to all of the other health issues has.

Today is Memorial Day and my father is one of the dwindling group of WWII survivors. He was a Sgt. in the Army and repaired airplane engines in England and France. He has pictures of his army buddies, and French coins that he saved, but he doesn't talk much, about the horror of war. which he experienced.  All I can say today is Thank you Dad for your Service to our country to fight for our freedoms, and the sacrifices you made.

Here is a picture of my Dad in uniform on his wedding Day.. My Mom and Dad got married in Boise, ID, weeks before he was deployed overseas in 1942 and were married for 65 years!  My Mom passed away in 2007.

Now for the belated versaries.  My blogiversary was April 17th, when  I did my first post. I didn't join Foodbuzz until July. In April, I was so immersed in planning Online the Bake Sale, that I didn't have time to think of my blogiversary.  I have learned so many things from the Food Blogging community, and discovered a whole other world on the other side of my computer screen.   I have met many wonderful people, and experiencecd firsthand, the warmth and friendship of the community, which is something, that I never expected.   I have also tried to improve my photos and got a new camera,, but still not the DSLR , that is just a dream at this point:)

Now for the other versary, (if that is a word.) Thursday, May 26th was my 10th wedding  anniversay.  We actually celebrated our anniversary with our friends in St. Louis, who's anniversary is the day after ours, with Margarita cupcakes. when we got back,  I saw a recipe an Almond Joy four Layer cake in a Rachael Ray magazine.  It looked so good, but I didn't want a whole, huge, four layer cake in the house.  So, I found  a recipe from Naturally Ella  Almond Joy Cupcakes, which I adapted..  If you like the Almond Joy or  Mounds, candy bars, you'll love these cupcakes, which taste heavenly.  First, there is a very chocolaty cupcake, which is filled with  a coconut cream cheese filling.  Then the cupcake is topped with ganache and topped with slivered almonds.  If you don't like the almonds, jut pick them off. Enjoy!

    Almond Joy Cupcakes   Adapted from Naturally Ella

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Filling

• 1 cup Shredded Coconut sweetened
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 oz light cream cheese
• 1-2  cup powdered sugar, to get desired consistency
• 1/3 c heavy cream-I used Almond milk and it was fine.

Ganache

• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350˚
• In a small bowl, sift dry ingredients for cupcakes and set aside.
• In a medium bowl (or a bowl of a stand mixer) combine butter and sugar, beat until light and fluffy- about 3 minutes.  Add in egg and vanilla, continue to beat until incorporated.  Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by half of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down sides and repeat.  Add remaining flour and mix until batter is combined- don't over mix.
• Divide batter into 12 cupcakes and bake for 16-18 minutes or until cupcake springs back when pressed.  Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.

            Filling   
      Take cooled cupcakes, and with the cone method, remove center of cupcake.

• Fill with coconut cream cheese,
• Replace cone.

Ganache

• In a heat proof bowl combine chocolate and heavy cream, or Almond milk. Place over a pot of boiling water and continue to stir until chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth.  Take each cupcake and dip into the ganache, covering the coconut filling.  Once each cupcake has been covered once, go back and dip the cupcakes in the ganache for a second time. Garnish with slivered almonds.