Unexpected Surprises......

I love surprises. I'm usually the one who does the surprising, but this time around, the tables were turned on me and I had no inkling of what was going to happen.

As most of my family and friends know, I had the priviledge of helping in a small way for a recent wedding with making some cheesecakes, doing some sewing and helping in general where needed. I even made some new friends in the process who are caring and wonderful people.

After the wedding the family of the bride surprised me with a 90 minute massage. It was totally unexpected and I was a bit overwhelmed by their generosity. What a nice gesture!

Then today in the mail, I received another unexpected surprise. The mother of the groom sent me a cupcake cookbook. Little does this person know that I have a tendency to collect cookbooks and again I was overwhelmed by this person's generosity. She said she saw the cookbook and thought about me. This mother of the groom is awaiting the birth of her first grandchild and one would think that person would have nothing on their mind but the new baby. To think of me and make time to send the cookbook through the mail tells me I've made a friend for life.

So the recipe I'm sharing in this post comes from my new cupcake cookbook.

Almond cupcakes

1 3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 pound butter at room temperature

1/2 cup walnut or vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup almonds ground and toasted
4 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan

In a large bowl cream 1 cup of the sour cream, the butter and oil. In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, one third at a time. Mix thoroughly after each addition.

In another bowl mix the eggs, the remaining 3/4 cup sour cream and the extracts. Add the egg mixture to the batter in thirds, beating for 1 minute on medium speed after each addition.

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Taken from Crazy about Cupcakes by Krystina Castella, published in 2006, page 49.