We had some friends over to watch the UK game on St. Patty’s Day and you know I’ll jump at any chance to make something special for any holiday. And we always have extra special eats when we have company, especially the kind of company that swoons and oohs and ahhs over my cooking. I threw a corned beef into our pressure cooker (first time using it! I have a future post planned on short ribs in the pressure cooker) and rocked out some grilled reubens with sauerkraut, homemade Russian dressing, and Swiss cheese on rye. I ate mine before thinking about taking a picture. Sowwie.
But…I remembered to snap dessert! Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Ganache and Icing. When I made these beauties last year at the Holly Hill Inn, I used Jameson’s Irish Whiskey in the ganache and stuck the Bailey’s in the icing for an Irish trifecta of liquored-up baked goods. This year, I streamlined a bit because I don’t drink whiskey and I’m too cheap to buy the good stuff for baking.
I used Dave Lieberman’s Chocolate Stout Cupcake recipe (whatever happened to this guy, anyway? I was always a fan) exactly as written, but noted that the recipe yielded closer to 30 cupcakes than 24. I fitted a pastry bag with a plain tip and filled each cupcake with about 2 tsp of Bailey’s ganache. I never measure when I’m making ganache or icing and give terrible instructions like “heat cream, add chopped chocolate, add Bailey’s until you can taste it, and chill” or “whip cream cheese and butter with some vanilla, then add powdered sugar until it’s sweet enough. drizzle in Bailey’s until you can taste it.” I’ll work on my communication skills.
To ice these puppies with the green ombre effect, I dyed the whole batch of icing a pale shade of green with just one teensy drop of food coloring. I fitted a pastry bag with a plain tip, then piped shamrocky-petals over the top third of each cupcake. Then I dyed the remaining icing a darker shade of green and piped the middle third of each cupcake. Lastly, go for all out leprechaun green and finish off the bottom thirds of each cupcake. Next time I make these, I’ll take photos along the way. Again, I’m working on my communication skills.
These are usually an annual St. Patty’s day treat, but I bought two six-packs of Guinness and no one drank any that night. I can’t blame them. So I’ll do what any good Asian non-drinker will do and turn them into more cupcakes. Whee! Maybe I can set a Guinness record for most Guinness cupcakes. That would be thrilling.
Recent Comments