Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
2. To a large bowl, add and whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.  
3. Using the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream your unsalted room temperature butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and oil together on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and beat again for 1 minute.
4. Add half of your bowl of dry ingredients and half of your buttermilk to your mixing bowl. Mix on low for about 45 seconds before repeating step to incorporate all buttermilk and flour. 
5. Pour and evenly spread the batter into your prepared cupcake liners (about 50 grams in each cavity). Bake for 14-16 minutes or until cupcakes appear buttery and dense but bounce back at the touch of your finger.
6. Let cupcakes cool in pan about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. 

Almond Buttercream Frosting 

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine your unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt. Start mixing on a low setting in short spurts to incorporate and avoid powder flying everywhere. Then increase speed and beat for another 5 minutes.
2. Taste test and add lemon juice if too sweet for your liking. Thin it out as needed with another tablespoon or two of heavy cream.
3. Once happy with flavor, use a spatula to smooth the frosting. Drag the spatula from the middle of your bowl to its edges, watching as the tears and bubbles in your buttercream disappear. Spend 3-4 minutes doing these motions to achieve nice, smooth frosting.
4. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice. 
5. Once your cupcakes are baked and fully cooled, follow the decorating steps to bring the hot air balloon design to life.

Cupcake Decorating 

1. In individual mixing bowls, tint your buttercream's base colors; you'll need colors for your background, hot air balloons, and the basket. 
2. Fit a piping bag with a large round open tip and fill with your sky-colored frosting(s). Pipe a dollop in the center of each cupcake so that the buttercream covers about 75% of the cupcake.
3. Flip the cupcake upside down onto a sheet of wax paper. Press gently so the frosting spreads evenly, creating a perfectly flat decorating surface that covers the top of the cupcake.
4. Repeat for all cupcakes and place them on a tray in the freezer for 15–20 minutes.
5. Remove cupcakes from the freezer and peel off the wax paper.
6. Use a scribe or toothpick to lightly trace the shape of a hot air balloon on top of each cupcake to give you a guide or outline for piping.
7. Pipe the balloon. Transfer each color to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (#8 or smaller). Fill in the balloon area with stripes, patterns, or any color combo you like.
8. Use brown or golden frosting with a basket-weave tip to pipe a small rectangle at the base of the balloon. Be sure to connect it to the base of the balloon with thin brown lines of frosting, piped with a small open piping tip.
9. Use your cookie scribe and piping bag to clean up any details on your hot air balloon cupcakes.