Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Who doesn't love a good cupcake... with alcohol infusion?

I was ecstatic when I came across this recipe, as Irish Car Bombs have been a staple of my St. Paddy’s Day celebration for years. I immediately ran out to the store(s), bought all of the ingredients, and then realized I had no party to attend or hold where people could snack 2 dozen cupcakes. Sidebar: I am not one to downsize a recipe of this nature; they never come out quite right in my book.   

So, I didn’t end up making the cupcakes in time for St. Patrick’s Day. We were out, they would have gotten stale, and that would have been a sin. I made them a few days late. Hey, it’s still March, right! The original plan of baking pre-St. Paddy’s included a birthday cupcake to a co-worker, who ended up with a belated birthday cupcake. Afterwards, I decided that Nick and I should spread the cupcake love to family living close by. One pint-sized cutie pie in particular dived right in, loving every bite... girl after my own heart! (Don't worry, there's not nearly enough alcohol in these to offend even the most conservative of parents.)

 

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 90 minutes | Bake Time: 17 minutes

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream (no substitutions)
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4-5 cups powdered sugar
5-7 TBSP Bailey’s Irish Cream

*** alter the powdered sugar and Bailey’s to taste

1. To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer in a separate bowl beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

3. To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling: Finely chop the chocolate, or use morsels and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. I used the double-boiler bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

4. To Fill the Cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag, or Ziploc, with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

5. To Make the Baileys Frosting: Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

6. Using your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

(Recipe slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker's photo below) One day I will learn how to frost like that!



Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Starbucks, you continue to inspire; inspire me to figure out the hidden secrets/recipes for your mouth-watering goodies, that is. This particular muffin has a special place in my recipe box seeing as though I pretty much love all things pumpkin, and even more so when they are not $5.00 a piece.

The girls and I got together for a “pumpkin party” early this fall and the idea was for each of us to bring a different pumpkin-inspired dish or dessert. I tossed around quite a few different ideas before committing to the task of trying to reproduce my favorite Starbucks treat.

It is definitely a bit more time consuming to make but well-worth it in the end. I used a combination of multiple recipes, intuition, and kept my fingers crossed for good luck! I am a true Italian baker, meaning I typically don’t measure, and I never use the exact same recipe twice. So what you have below is my attempt to recreate the muffins I made the first time. Enjoy!

**Tip: Mix and freeze the filling the night before so that it’s partially frozen and ready for your muffins.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins:

Ingredients:
For the filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 ½ cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin pie mix (or puree- add pumpkin pie spice if using puree)
1¼ cups vegetable oil

1 tsp ground cloves (optional)

For the topping:
¼  cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of wax paper and shape into a log about 1” in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least somewhat firm, at least 6 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients- flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking soda, and cloves (if you desire); whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie mix and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, slowly mix small portions of the dry ingredients; do not over mix at this point. 

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a fork until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use. The streusel topping is not as chunky as the topping at Starbucks, but I think in this case less is more.

Fill each muffin liner with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom (2 Tbsp). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a good amount of the topping onto each of the muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving (the cream cheese will be boiling hot at first!!)

Homemade Pesto with Fresh Basil

I think we’ve established that I’m Italian from my previous post apt. style gardening, somehow choosing to grow every possible ingredient for pasta sauce. Since it has been nearly 100 degrees this past week in good ole Northeast Ohio, even the thought of turning on the stove seems like a death trap. While watering our patio forest this morning the rich aroma of basil continued to linger; the smell alone reminds me of my late grandmother, which always leads to pleasant memories in the kitchen. So today, in honor and remembrance of my gramma, I decided to try my best at replicating her homemade pesto recipe. If you know anything about old, Italian woman you know that their recipes are very precious to them and not to be given out to just anybody. In order to keep her recipes concealed, gramma memorized all of them. She knew by the smell, color, taste, etc. how much more of this or that, how much longer, or what it was missing. I cooked alongside her for years trying to understand how she did this. I guess I picked up more than I realized because I am constantly skimming through the cupboard for “just the right thing.”

As for the pesto recipe, no it’s not gramma’s original (I don’t believe it ever made it onto paper) but I wasn’t satisfied until I added a pinch of this and a sprinkle of that, you know, for good measure! Keep in mind that gramma would have been shocked to learn that I used a food processor for chopping. She chopped all ingredients by hand because that is how she learned in Italy. If she were here today, she would yell at me saying that I am becoming a lazy American with all of my machines. She’s right. Chopping the listed ingredients by hand will change the flavor and texture of the pesto; ultimately it will be better. If you have the time, give it a try. As for me, I took the easy way out… for now! Below is the base recipe of the pesto that I began with. Beyond that I encourage you to dig through your cupboards adding flavors of things you and your family regularly enjoy. It’s the special touch that makes it yours.

Equipment: A food processor, or chopper.

Ingredients:

- 2 c. of freshly picked basil leaves (pack these into the measuring cup)

- 1/3 c. pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts (I used pecans, I prefer the flavor)

- 3 cloves garlic, minced finely or 1 heaping TBSP of minced garlic

- 1 TBSP of lemon juice (necessary for coloring of the pesto to remain intact)

- ¼ c. EVOO- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Do Not use cooking oil as substitute)

- ¼ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (only add this if eating all pesto right away)

This recipe should make about 1 cup of pesto, or 10 cubes in an ice cube tray!

Directions:

Step 1 - Pick the basil leaves. Be sure to discard any flower buds, stem or unhealthy leaves. Wash leaves thoroughly with cold water in a large bowl.

Step 2 – Chop the nuts, garlic, & EVOO in the food processor, or chop adding small increments of each ingredient as you go.

Step 3 – Add basil leaves and lemon juice to food processor. Chop until the mixture forms a thick, smooth paste.

Step 4 – OPTIONAL –add grated Parmesan cheese to mixture. If you plan to freeze the pesto in cubes DO NOT add in until ready for use.

Enjoy! Pretty simple, right?!

**Additional info:

Fresh pesto will keep when refrigerated for up to a week, frozen- up to 6 months.

I found a photo on Pinterest that suggested freezing the finished pesto into ice cube trays. Great idea! Once frozen, pop out and transfer them all into a freezer bag, and use as needed!

Homemade Strawberry Preserves

As a child, my mother and I would go strawberry picking every June in search of picture perfect, plump, juicy strawberries. I considered myself a pro by age 7. This expertise was created from my first gut-wrenching experience in the strawberry fields. I was young and did not understand the difference between quality and quantity, so I was in a hurry to merely fill my basket. I did this, much faster than my mother, proudly smiling and running up to her to show off my overflowing basket. In one of the most memorable moments of my childhood, my mother proceeded to look at my basket, make a terribly disappointed face, and dump all of my berries onto the ground. As tears began swelling up in my eyes and laughter began surfacing on her face, she quickly reiterated that these strawberries were for our special project and only the good ones would do. Reluctantly, I looked down at my pile of mushy, moldy, deformed looking berries and started cracking up laughing right along with my mother.

Present day: I decided to take on our special project without my ma’s help this year, in order to prove I can do it. In previous years, we had always used some type of pectin to ensure our jelly was the right texture. But this year, my boyfriend suggested we try the natural route, sans pectin. This involves a bit more work and plenty of patience but it is truly worth it in the end!

Tutorial

Strawberry Preserves (without pectin)

Ingredients:

Freshly picked strawberries (the recipe is adaptable to any amount) generally, 1 qt. of strawberries= 3 8oz. jars of jelly

1 cup of sugar (per cup of smashed strawberries)

½ Tbsp. of lemon juice (per cup of smashed strawberries) optional

*Leave stem on strawberries until using them to keep in flavor.

Step 1: Wash and cut stems from each strawberry.

Step 2: Mash strawberries into chunks, be sure to keep juice from strawberries as you smash. This can be done with numerous kitchen utensils, including a fork. I do not recommend buying anything special unless you prefer your jelly without seeds.

Step 3: Place mashed strawberry chunks and juice into a large pot. Add sugar to pot of strawberries. Mix and set sugar and strawberries aside for at least a few hours. Upon return, boil for at least 5 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid sugar burning on the bottom.

Step 4: After about 5 minutes on a full boil, use a sieve to remove chunks of strawberries, leaving only the juice in the pot to thicken and become syrup-like. Add lemon juice to pot. STIR OFTEN until desired thickness is achieved.

*A test to see if syrup is ready is to spoon out a teaspoon of it and put it on a side plate in the freezer for about 5 minutes. If syrup is thick and wrinkles after running a finger over it, it’s ready.

Step 5: Return strawberries to pot and boil on high for another 5 minutes.

Step 6: Canning: Place jelly in hot jars using a large funnel for least amount of clean up. Leave ½ inch of space on top for sealing. Wipe jars clean before placing on lids and rings (loosely). Place in boiling hot water for 10 minutes to seal. Put on drying rack to cool. Remove rings to prevent rusting. Enjoy!

** This became such a hit with family & friends, I decided to put it in my Etsy shop. Follow the link on the right if you're interested!

Princess...

Yes, I am one of those people who obsessed over the Royal Wedding this past weekend. My childhood nickname was not Cinderella for nothing. In case you were hiding under a rock, or as my boyfriend's father referred to me, an NFL draft widow, you undoubtedly have seen endless footage of London, pictures of the long awaited dress, the remarkable Westminster Abbey, the kiss, and then the second, etc.

I cannot resist a good story; but this was not just any story, this was a fairytale, a dream come true of most girls I know, regardless of age. Symbolically speaking, every girl wants to marry her "Prince" whether she is sappy enough to admit it or not. I blame Walt Disney; quite the imagination he had. Disney single-handedly conditioned girls from a very young age to believe in true love, chivalry, flawless features, and the idea that the perfect man is out there just waiting to put our shoes on.

And why not?

My cynical side would love to tell all of the hopeless romantics out there to get over it; it's not reality. But the eternal dreamer in me just cannot bring myself to accept it. Reality typically trumps fairytales. I know this and have come to terms with it. But I cannot sit back and ignore the fact that a "girl-next-door" type just acted out my childhood fantasy on live tv. The lesson to be learned from all of this, Don’t Settle! Will you end up with Price Harry if you keep at it? Probably not. The goal, or my version of a prince, is to be with someone who loves you unconditionally, challenges you daily, and makes you a better person continually. Don’t over analyze, these are clear questions that deserve your honesty. Trust me, when the answer is yes, you’ll know the difference.  

In honor of the Royal Wedding (and my new found interest in awkward hats), I jumped on the bandwagon and decided to see what the Chocolate Biscuit Cake (also known as the Groom’s Cake) was all about. I followed Sprinkle Bakes modified recipe of the original version by Darren McGrady and ended up with the following!

The first slice of pure decadence!