Chocolate Bourbon Old Fashioned Cupcakes

An Old Fashioned is a classic cocktail dating back to the early 1800s. It is composed of bourbon, bitters, sugar (or simple syrup) and orange zest (an orange peel & possibly a maraschino cherry for garnish). It was considered a "morning" drink because it was a lighter, sweeter variation of hard spirits (Oh, do I love America!) . Old Fashioneds are considered "The original cocktail" and may they never go out of style!

 

 

 

 

 

These are probably one of my favorite cocktails to make and my favorite cupcakes to make! We first made these for our friend Brandon's birthday. I found the recipe from Stasty! There is so much bourbon in this recipe I just love it! Also, I love that this recipe is in both cups & grams, I like to weigh out my dry ingredients when possible to get the best consistency.

 

 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

½ cup / 110g butter, at room temperature
½ cup / 100g cup sugar
2 large eggs
1½ cups /200g of gluten free flour *
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup / 50g of cocoa
½ cup / 120ml milk
Few drops of vanilla essence
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of 1 orange, finely chopped
3 tablespoons bourbon

Icing

½ cup / 110g butter, at room temperature
1 and ½ cups / 200g icing sugar
4 teaspoons of bourbon
4 dashes of bitters
Zest of half an orange, finely chopped

 

Ganache

100g / 3.5 oz bar of dark chocolate
2/3 cup / 120 ml of cream
1 tablespoon of bourbon
Zest of half an orange, finely chopped
25g/ 2 tablespoons of butter

Decoration

Maraschino cherries
Orange peel, sliced into thin slivers and curled

Method

Cupcakes

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tray. In a large bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa. Leave aside. In a second bowl, mix together the milk, vanilla, orange juice, orange zest, bourbon and leave to one side.

Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. With the beater still running add the eggs, one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully combined before adding the next one. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl. Keeping the mixer on low, then add half the flour mixture and half the liquids. Beat together, then add the remaining flour and liquids, and beat together until fully combined.

Divide the batter into the prepared cupcake cases and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minute. To test if the cupcakes are ready, place a tooth pick in the centre of the cupcake. Once the toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the tin, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Ganache

As the cupcakes are cooling, you can make the ganache. Heat the chocolate slowly in a bowl over a saucepan of just simmering boiling water. In a separate small saucepan, heat the cream until it is just starting to simmer. Add the bourbon and orange zest to the cream. Once the chocolate has melted, add the hot cream to it and leave to melt in for 5 minutes. Then add the butter and allow to melt slowly. Finally, take a mini hand whisk and whisk the chocolate, cream, and melted butter together until it has emulsified into a smooth thin chocolate paste. Leave the ganache to cool. It needs to be thick and fully cold in order to pipe.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, use an apple corer to bore out a small hole in the center of each cupcake. You don’t want to go right through to the bottom, just about two thirds of the way. Then scoop out any remaining crumbs in your chocolate tunnel  with a small spoon.

 

Icing

To make the frosting, place the butter and icing sugar in a stand mixer. Mix on low until the butter has softened and melted into the sugar. Then, turn the mixer up and beat the icing until it is soft and fluffy. Add the bourbon, bitters, orange zest and beat the icing again. If the icing is too thin, add a little more icing sugar. It should be spreadable like a paste.

Using a piping bag with a small nozzle, pipe the chocolate ganache into the holes in the center of each cupcake. Then, using a different piping bag, with a slightly larger nuzzle, pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a curl of orange peel.

 

 



Red Raspberry Grand Marnier Cheesecake Cupcakes

Red Raspberry Grand Marnier Cheesecake Cupcakes

Wow, that's a mouthful to say. But oh is it a tasty one!

Our friend Allison asked for us to make something for her birthday and all she said that she liked was cheese. So.. cheesecake it is!

For this recipe I kind of mixed and matched from other recipes around the web. I had never made a cheesecake before, other than with my mom growing up. I got the recipe for the actual cake from Driscoll's, but I wanted to use a graham cracker crust & I came up with the raspberry sauce by combining a couple different recipes.

Ingredients

Cheesecake

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cups sour cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 large eggs

1/3 cups Grand Marnier or orange flavored liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Raspberry Coulis

1 pint raspberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoon Grand Marnier

 

Method

Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse graham crackers in a blender or food processor to make fine crumbs. Press onto bottom of lined cupcake pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven to 325°F.

Cheesecake

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in Grand Marnier and vanilla; pour into prepared crust.

Bake 15-20 min. at 325°F. Turn off oven and prop the door ajar. Let cool in the oven. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Raspberry Coulis

Combine berries, sugar, water and zest in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low; cook until sugar is dissolved, about 8 minutes. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. Remove from heat; cool completely. Place mixture in the jar of a blender; puree until smooth. Pass through a fine-mesh colander, and discard solids. Stir in Grand Marnier.

We soaked the raspberries in Bourbon as well to give it a little kick!






 

 

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

How better can you celebrate St. Patricks Day than with some beer & whiskey & friends? Well, make cupcakes involving all three !!

Brent and I set out to make Irish Car Bomb cupcakes at request of our friend Alicia! We were all working the day of St. Patricks Day so we found a way to celebrate with a little booze mixed in.

For those who don't know, an Irish Car Bomb is a shot made up of a half to three quarter glass of Guinness Irish Stout with a shot glass on the side filled with half Jameson Irish Whiskey & half Baileys Irish Cream. The shot glass is dropped into the glass of Guinness and chugged really fast (if you don't, it curdles and its not as nice going down). Its definitely an American's twist on St. Patricks day but it tastes like a milk shake & it's so delicious.

The Trifecta!

 

We also made a batch of Gluten-free cupcakes. We swapped out the flour for Bob's Old Mill Gluten Free All-purpose Flour, Greene's Dubble Dark Ale & Carolans Irish Cream (with some research, I found Carolans is GF & Celiac friendly! yay!)

mmm...batter!

 

Jameson Genache Filling... sinful!

The finished product! So Yummy!

 

Brent doesn't look so happy in this picture.. maybe it's because we were at the restaurant at 8:30 to frost the cupcakes. No worries Brent, cupcakes make everything better!

These were a hit with everyone! I heard from a few people "best cupcake I've ever had!"

Alicia had found this recipe at ABCs & garden peas.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Ingredients

FOR CUPCAKES:

• 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

FOR GANACHE FILLING:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2–3 teaspoons Irish whiskey*

FOR FROSTING:

• 4–5 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6–7 tablespoons Baileys

Instructions

1. First, make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely (These come out great if you make them the night before. Just make sure to cool completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.)
3. Make the filling: Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. (If chocolate or butter do not melt completely, microwave for 20 seconds and stir before adding whiskey.)
4. Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. (Take care not to cut through the bottom of the cupcake.) Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill each cupcake.
5. Frosting Directions: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy (several minutes.) Slowly add the powdered sugar.
6. When the frosting reaches desired thickness (holds a peak and contains no air bubbles when you drag a spatula through), add Bailey's and whip it until combined. If liquid thins icing too much, beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Pipe icing generously onto each cupcake.
7. Enjoy!

*We probably put a little more booze in than the recipe calls for but we also drank a lot of it as we were making them. We both love Jameson, can you blame us?