Patriotic Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your cake pans. I used 8-inch rounds; you can use rectangle pans or cupcakes or whatever floats your boat!

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix until combined.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, almond extract, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Roll out fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, then cut out a strip long enough to go around the cupcake with a 1-inch overlap. Make it tall enough to ‘hold in’ the berries once you place them on top.

Wrap fondant around each cupcake, then press together at the seam.

Choose your favorite berry, add on top, and serve!