ROCKY ROAD CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a cupcake pan with paper wrappers.
• Using a standard-size ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measure, scoop the Devil's Food Cake batter into the prepared pan. The batter should come one-third to one-half the way up the sides of the pans.
• Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through, until the centers of the cupcakes spring back to the touch.
• Remove the cupcakes from the oven, let them cool slightly in the pan, then finish cooling them right side up on a wire rack until they reach room temperature.
• Repeat this process to bake the remaining batter, as necessary.
• While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, prepare the Chocolate Icing, if you have not already done so. Set it aside.
• Once all the cupcakes have cooled to room temperature, use a paring knife to gently carve out a 1/2-inch-diameter column that reaches about halfway down through the middle of each cupcake. (You can also carve this opening with a medium round piping tip by pressing the tip into the top of the cupcake about halfway down and then twisting it 360 degrees before pulling the tip out.)
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip with Marshmallow Fluff. Inserting the tip of the bag into the carved center of each cupcake, pipe the filling into the cake until it just begins to overflow the cavity (see Filling a Pastry Bag and Piping, page 11).
• Fit another pastry bag with a large star tip and fill it with Chocolate Icing. Pipe rosettes of icing on each cupcake (see Filling a Pastry Bag and Piping, page 11). Repeat until all the cupcakes have been iced.
• Sprinkle the chopped almonds on top of the cupcakes and serve.
• Once iced, the cupcakes can be kept covered or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring them to room temperature before serving.
• Polish your look
• To make Rocky Road Cake, ice chocolate cake layers with Marshmallow Icing up to the crumb coat stage (see Icing a Cake, page 14). Once the crumb coat has set, finish the cake with 1/2 recipe Chocolate Icing. Sprinkle almonds across the entire top of the cake or, if you're planning on inscribing it, just around the perimeter.