Happy St. Patty's Day

Who doesn't like a little Irish in their coffee? and who doesn't LOVE Bailey's Irish Cream in their cupcakes?! The perfect dessert to eat on St. Patty's Day.

Bake it!


Make chocolate ganache using Bailey's. Is your mouth watering yet?


Whip up some buttercream icing. Once again using Bailey's and green food colouring


Once cupcakes are cooled you need to hollow them out. Now this took me some time to figure out what was the best way to do this. I used a mini cookie cutter, a knife and the best kitchen tool was the melon baller. If you make mini cupcakes the melon baller was to big so I would use the knife.


Now that the cupcakes are all hollow and the Bailey's ganache is cooled, it's time to pipe the yummy ganache into the cupcakes. I just used a Ziploc bag to pipe.

Decorate with the buttercream, whatever your heart desires.

For the Bailey's chocolate cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 Bailey's Irish Cream

For the Bailey’s ganache filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

For the Bailey’s buttercream frosting:
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6-8 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
8-16 tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

Directions:

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line your cupcake pans with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and Bailey's; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage. Pour over the chocolate morsels. Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth. Add the Bailey's and stir until combined. Set aside to let the ganache cool until it is thick enough to be piped. (You can use the refrigerator to speed the cooling process, but be sure to stir every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooling.) Meanwhile, hollow out the cupcake (See images above for examples). Once the ganache has reached the correct consistency, transfer it to a piping bag and pipe it into the cupcakes.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Mix in the Bailey’s until smooth. Add more if necessary until the frosting has reached a good consistency for piping or spreading. mixing in green food colouring is optional. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

CLICK HERE to see my photos on my flickr site.

Happy St. Patty's Day!