Sparks from the Kitchen

It’s time again for the What’s Baking monthly goodies!! This month’s theme was chosen by Colleen of the redheadbaker blog and she chose (so aptly) Bailey’s. Not a problem. I love the stuff. It’s also so convenient since I had planned on having a St. Patrick’s Day get together at my house the Saturday before the lucky little day so a dessert made with Bailey’s would be perfect.

So I thought. And thought. And thought. And thought about how I could incorporate it into something yummy but a bit different. I determined that I didn’t want to do a Guinness cupcake (no offense to Guinness-you’re my favorite beer) but everyone does that. So I thought ‘what do I like with my Bailey’s’? Coffee! And chocolate! PERFECT! So there was the cake flavor. But then the frosting. Bailey’s is pretty heavy stuff so I decided on a buttercream but I made it nice and light by also incorporating heavy cream.  Yummy. Then I thought back to many Christmas celebrations at my In-laws and remembered that my Husband’s Grandmother used to make Buttery Nipple shots-Bailey’s and Butterscotch Schnapps. There was the bit of goodness that would tie this all together. Throw on a bit of edible green glitter and it’s perfect.

Not only was this a super tasty, multi-tastyness treat-it was delicate. The cake is light and airy, the frosting is more along the whipped cream line than thick buttercream.  The butterscotch drizzle ties it all together. The best part for me-they’re not overly sweet-they’re just right.  They are a joy to eat. You feel just lucky to have one in your hand.

And voila! A masterpiece is born (it took me 6 tries to get that butterscotch to swirl). This is an original recipe.

Lucky O’Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 2 & 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 & 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
• 2 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 yolk from a large egg
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup strongly brewed coffee
• 1/4 tsp coffee extract

For the Bailey’s Frosting:

• 3 & 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 & 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp Bailey’s
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp vanilla extract

For the Butterscotch drizzle:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3-6 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out and set aside
• 1-3 tsp flaky fleur de sel sea salt

Instructions:

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cupcake tins with paper liners (about 30). Set aside.
2. In the bowl of  your stand mixer add the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using the whisk attachment give it a minute or 2 on low speed to mix everything thoroughly.
3. Now add the eggs, yolk, milk, cream, vanilla, coffee and coffed extract and attach the paddle mixer. Beat on low speed to mix and give it a few minutes until everthing is mixed together, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.  The batter will be quite liquidy (but really yummy!!)
4. Fill the prepared tins about 2/3 of the way full (my ice cream scooper is perfect for this).
5. Bake about 19-24 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of one comes out clean.
6. Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then stack them up on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely (the only way to know for sure is to eat one you know 🙂

For the Frosting:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer just add everthing. Using the whisk attachment start it off slow so that you dont have a powdered sugar explosion. When it’s combined turn that mixer up to high and let it go for about 10 mintues.
2. Set the frosting aside for later when you’re ready to decorate.  You can also refrigerate it but when you’re ready to use it you will leave it out for a few hours to come to room temp.

For the Butterscotch:

1. Using a medium sized, heavy bottomed sauce pan het up the butter until it’s melted using medium (towards the low side) heat. Add the sugar, cream and 1 tsp of salt and whisk it about gently until it’s well blended.  Leave it alone for a bit, whisking here and there, until it comes to a very soft boil. Let it boil that way for about 5 minutes.
2. Remove it from the heat, add the 3 tps vanilla, vanilla beans and vanilla pod and stir it to combine. Put the pan over very very low heat (really just enough to keep it warm) and allow the vanilla to seep into the mix-about 3 minutes.
3. Remove it from the heat, remove the pod and discard. Taste for satlyness and vanillayness and add more if necessary. Salt and vanilla vary so it’s hard to give exact amounts to use. Just judge until you like it.
4. Pour into bottles to keep in the fridge for a few weeks and until you’re ready to drizzle.  It needs to be cooled completely to put on the cupcakes or it will melt the frosting.

When you’re ready for the cupcakes either pipe on the frosting or put it on with a spatula or knife or whatever, drizzle with some of the butterscotch, sprinkle with edible green glitter if you have it and enjoy!!

Note:  you can omit the butterscotch but it makes them so much better with it.