Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

March 15, 2013 by 6 Comments

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

It’s that time of year again… the time where I stock up on Guinness beer and Bailey’s Irish cream and Jameson whiskey.   And why? you may be wondering… well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day!  The day American’s celebrate their Irish heritage by getting sloshed! HA! I don’t particularly drink too much… so I like to use my liquor in my baking and this year made a chocolate Guinness Irish stout cake filled with Bailey’s cream cheese frosting and covered in white chocolate Bailey’s ganache.

OOooooooooooooooooooooh yeah.

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

This chocolate cake is seriously one of my all time favorites.   I mean, I could make this cake over and over and over again (and trust me, I already have) and NEVER get tired of it.

At first, I just wanted to make a single layer of cake and cover it in a simple white chocolate Bailey’s ganache.  BUT… I didn’t have a large enough round pan (I wanted a 10in round pan, but I only had an 8in round).   Boo.  So, two 8in rounds it was.   Between the  two layers of cake is a Bailey’s Irish cream & white chocolate ganache that I let set up overnight in the fridge so that I could spread it.  On top is hot ganache poured over the cake and down the sides.  I love that you can see the chocolate layers of this cake too.  Yaahh… this cake is good.

I brought it over to my neighbor Chrissy’s house to share with her family.  I served a big ole slice to her husband with a Guinness… HUGE hit!

Enjoy!

Irish Stout Cake with Bailey's Ganache by JavaCupcake.com

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Irish Stout Cake with Bailey’s Ganache

Total Time: 24 hours

Yield: 1 2-layer 8-inch cake

Dark chocolate Guinness Stout cake filled with Bailey's cream cheese frosting topped with Bailey's ganache and white chocolate shavings - the perfect St. Patrick's Day dessert!

Ingredients

    Irish Stout Cake
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 12oz bottle of Guinness Stout beer
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder
    • Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 6oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
    • Bailey's Ganahe
  • 6oz high quality white chocolate (not white chocolate chips)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • White chocolate shavings (garnish)

Instructions

    Irish Stout Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Grease and flour 2 8in round cake pans. I also lined mine with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the beer, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Bring to a simmmer and let bubble 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool 5-10 minutes.
  3. While it's cooling, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. In another large bowl, whisk together the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk.
  5. Once the chocolate mixture has slightly cooled, add 1-2 Tbsp of it to the eggs and milk and whisk until smooth. This is going to temper the eggs so they don't scramble. Slowly pour the remaining chocolate in with the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
  6. Make a well in the flour and pour in the chocolate. Use a spatula to fold together until no more flour can be seen. It will still be clumpy at this point. With your whisk, quickly stir the batter 20 strokes. Do not over mix. The batter may still have a few lumps in it, but that's okay.
  7. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. (I got about 2 3/4 cup of batter into each pan.)
  8. Bake at 375 F degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 F degrees and cook another 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Cool cake in the pans for 10 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Once cooled, trim the tops so that each cake is level and the same height.
  11. Wrap cake layers and freezer for several hours or over night.
    12. Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
  12. Using your stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until smooth.
  13. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.
  14. Add the Bailey's and salt and mix for 1 more minute.
  15. Chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes or until firm and easily spreadable without being too soft.
    16. Bailey's Ganache
  16. Run the white chocolate though the food processor until it is in very small, fine pieces. If you don't have a food processor you can just chop the chocolate into very small, fine pieces. Place them in a medium glass bowl.
  17. In a medium pot, bring the heavy cream, Bailey's and butter to a simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Pour cream over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute.
  18. Stir chocolate and cream slowly and smoothly until all the chocolate has melted. Do not over-stir the chocolate... you don't want to create air bubbles.
  19. Place the bowl in a ice bath until it has come to room temperature. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until it has thickened.
    20. Assembly
  20. Place first layer of cold from the freezer cake on your cake stand, cut side up. Using all the cream cheese frosting, spread an even, flat layer across the top of the cake to the edges. Place the second layer of cake, cut side down on top of the frosting. Press down gently until the top is level. Put cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
  21. Remove the cake from the freezer and spoon ganache on the top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, GENTLY AND SLOWLY spread the ganache to the sides of the cake. Add more ganache when needed to create an even layer. You'll want the ganache to slightly drip off the sides, but most of it to remain on top. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick.
  22. Garnish the top of the cake with white chocolate shavings.
  23. Store cake in refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove 15-20 minutes before you want to cut the cake.
  24. Store in an air tight container up to 2 days.
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Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol frosting, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, ganache, ganache, holiday, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, white chocolate frosting

Amaretto Truffles

March 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Amaretto Truffles by JavaCupcake.com

I have no real reason for making these rich, decadent Amaretto Truffles other than I wanted to eat them myself.  I recently started a truffle board on Pinterest and have been obsessed with making them myself.  I’ve made ganache so many times that I questioned why I had never taken the next step and made truffles.

My husband graciously left me about 1/4 cup of Disaronno in the bottle – so I knew that these truffles would have to be amaretto.  I mean, chocolate and amaretto go hand in hand.

Overall – these truffles were pretty simple to make.  Not too many steps, few ingredients and a low skill level is needed.  The only part that I think will get better with more practice is the rolling into perfectly round balls.  I found that the chocolate melted so quickly in my hands and got soft… so it became hard to roll perfect balls.  Next time, I might try rolling them in smaller batches, keeping the unused ganache in the fridge and cold.

The next batch of truffles I’ll try… Bakerella’s Peanut Butter Truffles.  Woah – YUM!

Enjoy!

Amaretto Truffles by JavaCupcake.com

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Amaretto Truffles

Yield: 24 truffles

Ingredients

    Truffles
  • 250g Lindt Excellence 50% chocolate
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream (I used 32%)
  • 3 Tbsp Amaretto (I used Disaronno)
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
    • Truffle Coatings
  • Cocoa powder
  • Powdered sugar
  • Chocolate jimmies
    • Supplies for rolling truffles
  • Baking sheet
  • Wax paper
  • Melon baller
  • small bowls
  • forks/spoons
  • small plates
  • mini cupcake liners

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a medium glass bowl.
  2. Put the cream, butter and amaretto in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
  3. Stirring often, heat cream until it just beings to bubble. Remove immediately and pour over the chopped chocolate.
  4. Let the chocolate and cream sit, untouched, for 1 minute.
  5. Stir gently until smooth being careful not to create any air bubbles.
  6. Cool to room temperature, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
  7. Prepare all your supplies before you begin rolling truffles... Line baking sheet with wax paper. Place sprinkles, cocoa, sugar in small bowls and lay out forks & melon baller.
  8. Scoop 3/4in-1in balls of chocolate using the melon baller. Gently and quickly roll the chocolate in your hand until a ball forms. The chocolate will begin to melt by the heat of your hands, so work quickly. Place each ball 1in apart and in rows on your prepared baking sheet. Chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes after all the balls are rolled. While they are chilling, prepare small plates by covering them with wax paper. Prepare one plate for each variation of coatings.
  9. Using a spoon or fork, lift one rolled ball at a time off the tray. Drop it into your desired coating and roll around until completely covered. Place coated truffle onto prepared plate. NOTE: Keep like truffles together... you don't want them to touch and get contaminate each other!
  10. Place each truffle in a mini cupcake liner.
  11. Store in a container with a lid in your freezer or refrigerator until ready to serve. Best served cold.
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Filed Under: alcohol, recipes, truffles

Crown Royal Cupcakes

October 17, 2012 by 12 Comments

I am in love with my chocolate cake recipe.  It is so versatile.  I mean seriously.   I’ve made this chocolate cake so may different ways now… It’s gone mocha/coffee, dark chocolate, Guinness, cream, and now Crown Royal Reserve.  I love the fact that just replacing this one ingredient, substituting just this one aspect of the cake can change the flavor so drastically.  It’s amazing!

The cupcakes I made today are full of Crown Royal Reserve flavor.  The aroma of the batter was extremely intense and tasted so incredibly delicious.  The whiskey flavor was strong, but not over powering.   It was perfection.

Inside these cupcakes is a spiced chocolate cream I had left over from the pumpkin spice cupcakes I made last week.  I just whipped it up until it was smooth, added a tablespoon of Crown Royal to it and it was silky, smooth and perfect to fill these cupcakes with.

Topping these cupcakes is a cream cheese frosting with nothing but Crown Royal Reserve as the flavoring garnished with a dollop of the same chocolate cream as in the middle of the cake.

My neighbor got to sample one of the “rejects” as I call them and she said it was delish!  (I usually don’t even eat a whole cupcake when I make them for clients.  lol  I’ve made these types of cupcakes so many times that I know what it all tastes like already! I’d be 325lbs again if I ate a cupcake everytime I made them haha)

Enjoy!

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Crown Royal Reserve Cupcakes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Crown Royal infused dark chocolate cake filled with spiced dark chocolate cream topped with Crown Royal frosting. Perfect for the CR lover in your life!

Ingredients

    Crown Royal Cupcakes
  • 3/4 cup Crown Royal
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk
    • Dark Chocolate Cream for the filling
  • Recipe can be found here!
  • NOTE: You'll only need about half of what the recipe makes, so save the rest for later or only make half
  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream
    • Crown Royal Frosting
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp Crown Royal (more if you want a thinner frosting)

Instructions

    Crown Royal Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
  3. Once melted, add the Crown Royal and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Bring just to a boil then remove from the heat to cool slightly.
  4. While cooling, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk in a medium bowl.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Slowly pour 2-3 Tbsp of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the rest in and whisk until combined.
  7. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mix. Whisk until smooth.
  8. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
    10. Dark Chocolate Cream
  10. Using about half of the frosting from the this recipe, add 1 Tbsp of heavy cream.
  11. Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer, whip frosting until light and fluffy.
  12. Core each cupcake and fill with the chocolate cream.
    13. Crown Royal Frosting
  13. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  14. Add the powdered sugar and beat on high until smooth. If it becomes too thick to mix, add the Crown Royal to loosen up.
  15. Mix in the salt and beat on high for 3-4 minutes.
  16. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes and top with a dollop of the dark chocolate cream to garnish.
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Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, alcohol frosting, chocolate cupcakes, cream cheese, cream cheese frosting, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, recipes

Onionlove: Oktoberfest Bier Batter Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce

September 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Onion rings?  WTF? That’s not a cupcake or cake or a cookie!  You’re right!! It’s not!! BUT…. It is #OnionLove month with my BlogHop group and I’ve been dying to test out a recipe for a Bloomin Onion at home.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a deep fryer and I wasn’t about to run out and buy a Fry Daddy just to make this onion.  Cause, let’s be honest here… I’d start deep frying everything and that’d be bad for my waist line.  I mean, realllllly bad.

So… Onion rings instead.  Easier to control the heat in the oil and just as delicious!

The batter for the onions is really quite simple… and genius actually.  The key ingredients… beer and pancake batter! Yup… who knew that pancake mix would make THE BEST batter for these onion rings!

The beer I used, well… since I’m here in Germany and Oktoberfest is right around the corner, I used the seasonal Oktoberfest Bier by Paulaner.  If you’re not familiar with Paulaner, it’s the largest brewery in Munich, Germany… and it’s DELICIOUS.  It added a rich dimension to the batter and was really quite delicious to finish off after I added what I needed to the recipe.  hehe (PS… any lager would work for this recipe if your store doesn’t carry Paulaner.)

Enjoy!

Print
Oktoberfest Bier Batter Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 30-40 onion rings

Ingredients

    Onion Rings
  • 1-2 quarts vegetable oil
  • 2 large yellow or sweet onions, sliced & separated
  • 1 6.75oz package Buttermilk Pancake Mix
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp seasoning salt
  • cracked black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder (more if you want more heat!)
  • 1/4 cup Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier (or whatever lager you have on hand)
    • Dipping Sauce
  • 2/3 cup 1000 Island dressing
  • 2 Tbsp horseradish (the spreadable kind in a jar)
  • 1 tsp chili powder (more if you want more heat)
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Instructions

    Onion Rings
  1. Cut onion into 1/4 inch slices. Separate slices into rings. Season with cracked black pepper.
  2. Heat about 1 1/2-2 quarts of vegetable oil in a large pot. You want the oil hot, but not smoking.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the pancake mix and all the seasonings.
  4. Whisk enough beer until you get a batter thin enough to coat the onion rings yet still be able to tap off the excess.
  5. Using tongs, dunk each onion ring into the cake batter. Tap off excess.
  6. Submerge onion rings in hot oil. Cook until edges begin to brown (about 10-15 seconds), flip and cook another 5 seconds. Remove immediately and place on a paper towel lined plate. NOTE: Do not over crowd the pan, cook 4-5 rings at a time, depending on how big your pot is. You don't want them touching while they cook.
  7. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
    8. Dipping sauce
  8. In a small bowl, whisk together all the 1000 Island, horseradish, chili powder and pepper.
  9. Serve in a bowl with the onion rings.
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Please be sure to check out what my fabulous co-hosts are bringing to the table:

T.R. - No One Likes Crumbley Cookies – Twitter – Pinterest
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Filed Under: alcohol, appetizers, beer, blog hop, onion, recipes

New Year’s Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes

December 31, 2011 by 9 Comments

I’ve been dreaming of doing a special post for New Year’s… but wasn’t sure if I’d make it in time.  Today… well, with nothing really on the agenda today, I decided to spend a few hours in the kitchen and make some cupcakes!

And… what better way to celebrate the New Year than with a big bottle of BUBBLY!  These cupcakes have a very strong champagne flavor but paired with the homemade raspberry filling they sure are a sweet treat!

Of course, these little cupcakes had to be all dressed up to celebrate 2012!  I melted white chocolate and created the cutest toppers for these cupcakes… perfect to ring in the New Year!

Since this will be my final post of 2011… I want to take this time to wish you all a very Happy 2012!  I hope all your dreams and wishes come true in this year year!

Love you all!

Raspberry Champagne Cupcakes
Makes 18-20 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup of your favorite champagne – I used Cook’s Extra Dry for this recipe

pink food gel coloring

Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy and smooth… at least 4-5 minutes.
  2. Mix in the vanilla and sour cream.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the flour and champagne, alternating, as well as beginning and ending with the flour.   Mix only until combined.
  5. At this point you can either add the pink food gel coloring or you can leave them white.  I did half white and half pink.  Mix the food gel only until combined… you don’t want to overwork the batter.
  6. Scoop into liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool in pan for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Once cool, using an apple corer, remove the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry filling.
Recipe adapted from: Sprinkle Bakes

Raspberry Filling
Makes enough to fill 2+ dozen cupcakes

1 bag of frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
3-4 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp corn starch

  1. In a large pan on the stove, melt the butter.
  2. Add the raspberries, sugar and vanilla and cook for about 5 minutes on med-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
  3. Once the sugar melts and the raspberries begin to bubble, in a 1 cup measuring cup, mix together with a fork 4-5 tbsp of the raspberry mixture and the corn starch.  Add this mixture back to the pan with the remaining raspberries and stir until combined.
  4. Bring mixture to a bubble/gentle boil then remove from the heat.  Stir every few minutes as it cools.
  5. Cool completely before filling cupcakes.
  6. To fill cupcakes:  place raspberry mixture into a piping bag and squeeze just enough filling into each cupcake.

Champagne Buttercream
Makes enough to frost 18 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup butter flavored shortening (you could use all butter if you wanted too)
1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 cup Champagne (I used the same as what I put in the cupcakes)

  1.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and shortening.
  2. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar and mix on high until smooth.
  3. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
  4. Add 1/4 cup of champagne and mix on high until smooth.  Add remaining champagne until you get the consistency you desire.
  5. Mix frosting on high for 1-2 minutes until fluffy and the color brightens.
  6. Pipe frosting onto your cupcakes and decorate!

And here they are all dressed up for a client to enjoy!  Happy 2012!

Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, alcohol frosting, champagne, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, fruity cupcakes, holiday, new year's, raspberry, recipes, seasonal

Cinnamon Eggnog & Bourbon Cupcakes

November 17, 2011 by 21 Comments

Our military commissary has stocked three flavors of eggnog right now.  Pumpkin, Cinnamon and Gingerbread.  The pumpkin tasted just like pumpkin pie, but I knew I didn’t want to bake with it.  I’m kinda over pumpkin, ya know?  And then I sipped on the cinnamon nog…. and HOLY COW!

I’m not gonna lie.  I’m not a fan of the eggnog.  But the cinnamon eggnog was SO GOOD!  I might even drink an entire quart of it! YUM!

So, then my brain got to churnin… eggnog cupcakes.  Yah, that’s typical.  But Cinnamon Eggnog cupcakes?  And what goes better with eggnog than a little bourbon?  So uhm, yeah.  Cinnamon Eggnog & Bourbon cupcakes were born!

Don’t worry, these won’t get you drunk… just make you happy!

PS… the liners I used for these cupcakes are probably one of my most favorite liners EVER!  They come from my friend, Kellie Sutton of Sutton Gourmet Paper.  The thing that makes these liners so amazing is that they keep their color, texture and shape when baking.  They DO NOT soak the batter or oils into the liners like others do.  So every time you bake with Kellie’s liners, you get a perfectly beautifully wrapped cupcake!

Cinnamon Eggnog & Bourbon Cupcakes
Makes 17-18 cupcakes

1 1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup bourbon whiskey (I used Seven Oaks American Straight Bourbon Whiskey)
1 1/4 cup cinnamon eggnog
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the bourbon, eggnog, oil, vinegar, vanilla and sugar on medium speed until smooth (about 3-4 minutes).
  4. Add the flour and mix on low speed just until all the flour is wet.
  5. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides with a spatula and make sure all the flour is incorporated.  Do not over mix.  This step should only take 2-3 strokes.
  6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
  7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
  8. Allow to cool in the pan for 3-4 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Spiced Bourbon Buttercream
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb + 1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp bourbon whiskey (I used the same bourbon as in the cupcakes above)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp (more or less) cinnamon eggnog
1/8 tsp salt

nutmeg – garnish

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  2. One half cup at a time, add half the powdered sugar and beat until smooth between each addition.
  3. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the whiskey, beat until combined.
  4. Sprinkle in the cinnamon and mix until incorporated.
  5. One half cup at a time, add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth between each addition.
  6. Add the eggnog until you get the consistency you desire.  You may want more or less of the eggnog. Mix in the salt and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds.
  7. Frost each cupcake and sprinkle with nutmeg to garnish.
Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, buttercream, cinnamon buttercream or frosting, cream cheese frosting, cupcake recipes, eggnog, eggnog cupcakes, eggnog frosting, frosting and icing, recipes

Chocolate Amaretto Mini Cupcakes

July 19, 2011 by 2 Comments

For some reason I thought of Amaretto today. I don’t know why… but it just came to me. It might have been because of the Amaertti German biscuits I bought at the German store today (which are SO GOOD). But the point is… I’m making these cupcakes! Ha! So, I ran BACK to the local German store and picked up a 700ml bottle of Italian Amaretto (for only €3,99!! liquor is so cheap here!) and came up with this recipe for Chocolate Amaretto cupcakes!

Since these are mini’s I won’t be drenching them in the Amaretto like I did the regular size cupcakes, but you definitely should poke some holes in your cupcakes and drench them with more of this delicious liquor if you decide to make regular size cupcakes with this recipe. I’m pretty sure that’d be just a little too much Amaretto for such a small cupcake, since there is Amaretto in the cake, ganache and the buttercream!

 

I’m bringing these to an FRG meeting tomorrow. (For those of you who don’t know… FRG = Family Readiness Group in the Army. I’m the FRG Leader of my husband’s company in the Army and it’s my first meeting after taking the job. I want to make a good impression!) I’m pretty sure these will be a hit with not only the other FRG Leaders but the soldiers who will be there!

Chocolate Amaretto Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini cupcakes and about 6 regular size cupcakes

1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur
1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line your cupcake pan with mini nut cups or mini cupcake liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, oil, sugar egg, and amaretto.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  4. In two parts, gently whisk the flour into the wet mixture.  Mix until all the clumps are out.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
  5. For minis: Scoop batter into liners about 1/2-2/3 full.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. For regular size: Scoop batter into liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Amaretto Ganache
This made enough to dip all the cupcakes with 1/2 left over

4 oz semi-sweet bakers chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream (I actually ran out of whipping cream, so I used 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup coconut milk)
3 tbsp Amaretto liquor, separated
1 tbsp butter

  1.  Chop the chocolate and place it in a glass bowl.
  2. In a double boiler, bring the cream and 2 tbsp Amaretto to a boil.
  3. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds.
  4. Stir until smooth.
  5. Add the butter and 1 tbsp Amaretto and stir until incorporated.
  6. Dip the tops of cooled cupcakes in the ganache.  Set aside before to firm up frosting.

Chocolate Amaretto Buttercream
Makes enough to frost all the cupcakes in the above recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
2-3 tbsp whipping cream

Amaretti biscuit cookies

  1. Sift together the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder.
  2. Cream the butter until smooth.
  3. 1 cup at a time, add the sugar/cocoa.   Mix until smooth.
  4. Add the amaretto and mix until incorporated.
  5. Add the whipping cream until you get the consistency and texture you desire.
  6. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 30 seconds on high.
  7. Pipe a dollop of buttercream onto each cupcake.  Top with an Amaretti biscuit cookie.

Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, ganache, recipes

Peach Bellini Cupcakes

May 31, 2011 by 7 Comments

Do you have a ladies brunch coming up soon?  No?  Well, then you should plan one just so that you can make these cupcakes… they’re perfection!  So cute & classy… we love classy around here ;)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, cupcake recipes, fruit, fruity cupcakes, posts by jenn, recipes

Tiramisu Bundt Cake with Kahlua Mascarpone Glaze

May 30, 2011 by 5 Comments

My senior year of high school I lived in Monterey and worked a little restaurant on the wharf, Cafe Fina… not only do they have amazing pizza and pasta they also have delicioso dessert…

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Filed Under: alcohol, cake, Coffee, glaze, posts by jenn, recipes, strawberry

Limoncello Cupcakes

May 1, 2011 by 4 Comments

Are you ready for summer?  Because I’m soooooo ready for summer it’s crazy.  These were perfect to hold me over through since we still have rain and clouds here ;( boo. They’re nice and fresh, tart and sweet all at the same time. ;) Yummm!

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Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, fruit, lemon, posts by jenn, raspberry, recipes

Guinness Stout Cupcake recipe & video from Trophy Cupcakes

March 16, 2011 by 5 Comments

Yesterday, Jennifer Shea of Trophy Cupcakes was featured on the Seattle morning talk show New Day Northwest where her famous chocolate stout cupcakes were featured.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: alcohol, chocolate, pacific nw cupcakes, recipes

Drenched in Kahlua Cupcakes

February 28, 2011 by 8 Comments

Yesterday was a great day.  Yes, my friends, it was National Kahlua Day.  So what did I do?  I ran to the closest liquor store that’s open on Mondays and bought myself a little, errr, big bottle of my favorite liquor. [Read more...]

Filed Under: alcohol, chocolate, featured, recipes, top posts sidebar

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes Revisited

January 30, 2010 by 20 Comments

I had an order for my Irish Car Bomb cupcakes so I decided to try something new with them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: alcohol, buttercream, ganache, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, top posts sidebar

St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes

March 17, 2009 by 16 Comments
The St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes are done!! :) I made Green Velvet cupcakes and topped them with Bailey’s Irish Buttercream frosting! Here’s the recipe!! Enjoy! [Read more...]
Filed Under: alcohol, buttercream, holiday, perfect for spring, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, velvet

Mocha Vanilla Swirl cupcakes

March 1, 2009 by 13 Comments


Makes 12 cupcakes.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, at room temp
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup+1tsp STRONG brewed coffee (Starbucks Pike Place roast was used for this cupcake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pan for 12 cupcakes.

Use mixer to combine sugar and butter until fluffy (3-5 minutes).

While that is mixing, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the egg and egg white slowly to the sugar and egg and beat well.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then add the milk. Add 1/3 more flour mixture and then add the coffee.

Mix in the rest of the flour mixture until just combined (don’t overbeat your cupcakes or they will be disgusting).

Using an ice cream scoop, fill 12 cupcake papers with equal amounts of batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Vanilla Filling
1/2 package instant vanilla pudding
A little less than 1/2 cup milk
A little less than 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish creme

Mix all ingredients with electric mixture until it has the consistency of thick pudding.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp whipping cream

Beat the butter until it’s smooth and creamy.

Slowly add the powdered sugar until it’s smooth.

Add the milk and cocoa.

Scrape down sides of bowl.

Beat on high 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Cupcake Assembly
Cool cupcakes completely.

Cut out a little cone shape in the tops of each cupcake.
Drop in a dollop of Bailey’s filling and squish the top back on the cupcake. If it squirts out the sides a little, no worries.
Pipe the frosting on top, making sure to cover the seams and the filling.
Add espresso bean on top.
Cupcake and Filling recipe adapted from: Frosted Creations
Frosting recipe happens to be the same as Frosted Creations, but is also one I use.

Filed Under: alcohol, buttercream, chocolate, Coffee, filled cupcakes, vanilla

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

February 22, 2009 by 10 Comments

Today I finished up a request from my husband to make Irish Car Bomb cupcakes! This cupcake consists of a Guinness infused chocolate cupcake piped with chocolate & Jameson whiskey ganache all topped with Bailey’s Irish Cream Buttercream Swirl frosting.

To. Die. For. [Read more...]

Filed Under: alcohol, buttercream, filled cupcakes, recipes, St. Patrick's Day