Wordless Wednesdays: Margarita Cupcakes

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I stumbled on this idea over at Smitten Kitchen ... and was intrigued. A friend's birthday gave me just the occasion to try this out, and also gave me a reason to sip on some of the ingredients as I was baking. Blissful, really.

The basic gist to these wonderful confections are the following: moist Guinness chocolate cupcakes, filled with a Jameson laced chocolate ganache, topped with a creamy Baileys Irish Cream frosting. The result - FAR better than I imagined. I may never make chocolate cake without Guinness and sour cream again. Bold statement, but man alive, these things made me believe. They were a huge hit with the my dinner guests, and gave us a reason (who needs one though, c'mon) to toast the birthday boy with real liquid Irish Car Bombs. M'mm.

Enough gushing, on to the goods.

Makes 20 - 24 cupcakes. For me, 22.

Ingredients:

Guinness Chocolate Cupcake Base:
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Jameson Ganache
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3-4 tsp Jameson (I liked mine a bit stronger, and I eyeballed. This is optional, and Smitten Kitchen uses 1-2 tsp ... trust me, the whiskey flavoring adds a tang that's hard to describe, and absolutely divine.)

Baileys Frosting
2-3 cups confections sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 - 6 tablespoons Baileys (I added more, originally calls for 3-4 TB. More Baileys = creamier frosting and stronger taste.)

First, make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and mix until mixture is smooth. It will have a dense, chocolate, slightly bitter taste. Cool slightly.



Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl, using an electric mixer or just a bit of dedication. I don't own an electric mixer, and frankly use this as a way to relieve stress :) But I'd imagine the mixer would make this process and frosting-making easier. Eh, it's kind of like a mini-workout ;)

Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and mix just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.



Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes completely.



On to the best ganache I've ever had ... and I love ganache:

Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. It should have a rich tang to it and the faint smell of Jameson. M'mm Jameson. :) Happy KT.




I used a small melon baller for this. You want to scoop out almost all the way down, maybe 3/4 of the way into the cupcake. Highly recommend saving these scraps for a little treat for the chef and drizzling with remaining ganache ... It provides a delightful mental health break while these cool ;)



Spoon the ganache into a piping bag / ziploc bag. Pipe the filling into the cupcakes. There should be enough to fill to the tops. My ganache was a little runny when I tried this due to the Jameson but it was manageable. I just popped into the freezer after that so this would set.



Almost done ... making the frosting:

Again, out of all the kitchen gadgets I have, an electric mixer isn't one. This is quite laborious without one, but hey, I had some time to kill ... and a bicep to tone. ;)

Whip the butter in a bowl with the mixer / brute strength, until it's light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon, to help prevent a grainy texture or lumps. Once I had mixed in about a cup of the powdered sugar, I started to add little by little the Baileys ... it makes this mixing process, especially if by hand, MUCH easier. I probably used 2 cups of powdered sugar (original recipe calls for 3-4, but I didn't use it all.) I made mine a bit creamier by adding more Baileys ... play around with it. Should be a lightish brown color, with a noticeable Baileys taste and a frosting consistency.

I chose to put this in a bag, snip the corner and decorate the cupcakes as seen above. Not much frosting was needed, IMO, since these cupcakes are sweet enough as is ... just a little added pizazz. I sprinkled some shaved chocolate over the top, and watched as these got gobbled up. You know, after properly "Cheers!"-ing them, post the *other* Irish Car Bombs ... ;)

Beating the blues - Black and Blue Cobbler

There's something about warm baked goods and vanilla ice cream that takes the chill out and puts a smile on my face. It does wonders to curb a funk, end a bad mood and has a relaxing quality all its own.

I had a craving for sweets, and only a few things in the fridge / freezer. In order to now have to go outside into the snow / sleet / rain mix, I whipped this up ... yum.

Black and Blue Cobbler

Ingredients:
roughly 3 cups of blueberries
about 1 - 1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 Tb lemon juice
6 Tb melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1 Tb vanilla extract
sugar for sprinkling
pinch of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray down a pan (I used my paella pan ... hey now, love improvising) and pour the berries into the pan. Sprinkle the lemon juice and vanilla over the berries.



In a separate container, combine the beaten egg with the flour and raw cane sugar. It should make a loose, grainy kind of clumpy dough - but still very dry. Take it into your hands and squeeze little clumps to put over the berries.



Sprinkle leftover flour + sugar mixture over the berries, some should be poking through. Drizzle the melted butter over the top, and then sprinkle over the top a spoonful of the raw cane sugar. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.



Serve with a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream and enjoy :)

a little gourmet picnic

i've always wanted to go on a picnic, sit down by the harbor or on the banks of the charles and nosh with a friend / loved one. so i finally put my money where my mouth is, and put together a little gourmet picnic (aka not your average pb&j sandwiches and soda) for my special someone for tonight.

before i forget and lose the links, here's what's on the docket for tonight. all he knows is that i'm cooking and that we're not eating at the house. let's hope he enjoys it!

menu:
to start, a sampling of two sandwiches, one sweet, one savory --
... the sweet: a grilled goat cheese, fig and honey sandwich on cinammon raisin bread, dusted with confectioner's sugar.
... the savory: grilled flank steak, sauteed onions and a blue cheese sauce on grilled ciabatta loaf. the steak, marinated in soy sauce, dijon mustard, and a bit of lemon juice. the onions, mixed with a dash of red wine vinegar after sweating, and the blue cheese sauce made with blue cheese crumbles, lemon juice and greek yogurt.

next, a take on horta, with poached green swiss chard, dressed with lemon juice, olive oil and s & p.

followed, possibly, by a dry nutty cheddar.

with the last item being homemade baked apple dumplings with vanilla icing, made with puff pastry. mine slightly opened, so they look more like apple turnovers, but delicious nevertheless.

recipes:
grilled goat cheese, fig and honey sandwiches

grilled flank steak, onions and blue cheese sandwiches

baked apple dumplings

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drink wise, i'm bringing a bottle of sparkling water and a nice bottle of red from the wine rack ... not sure just which one yet. here goes nothing!