Coffee Cupcakes with Whiskey Maple Butter Cream (a la Irish Coffee)

My friends know that if I'm not drinking beer or wine, I'm drinking whiskey.  Make that Jameson Irish Whiskey NEAT to be specific.  I love the color- golden beautiful amber.  I love the warmth it creates in my belly.  I often tell my husband that the only thing I dislike about whiskey is the fact that I can't drink very much of it; it's very powerful stuff.  On the other hand, he hates the it.
On a desperate night last winter, we were going out late to meet friends.  I was torn, being incredibly cold in our crappy apartment, between whiskey for warmth and coffee for energy.  Brent randomly decided to pour whiskey into the coffee concentrate I make and keep in the fridge for my morning iced coffee (yes, even in the winter I tend to drink my coffee iced since it's easy to make and less acidic).  The result was quite magical.  The two flavors married so well that Brent not only tolerated it, but loved it.  I know we aren't the first people to put the two together, but it was pretty awesome.
This weekend I found myself surrounded by cake ingredients that needed to be used up.  I started searching for whiskey frosting recipes and here is what I came up with:

Coffee Cupcakes with Whiskey Maple Butter Cream
Adapted from: cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart and frosting from Cupcake Rehab
Yield: around 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons instant-espresso powder
1/4 cup whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with liners.
2. Pour water over espresso powder; let cool.  Combine espresso with milk.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with espresso-milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour (batter may look broken).
4. Fill cups three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 10-12 minutes. Let cool; turn out cupcakes from tins.
 
Ingredients for frosting: (I used 1/2 of this recipe)
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons maple syrup or extract (room temp. if you use syrup; I used the extract- I'd use a bit less than called for since it is intense stuff)
2  tablespoons Jameson or other Irish whiskey
4-6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
1. Combine butter, maple syrup, Jameson and 2 cups confectioners sugar in a large bowl and beat at medium-high speed until smooth.
2. Add remaining sugar in gradually until frosting is thick enough to pipe easily. You may not use all the sugar. If icing is too dry, add additional milk until desired consistency is reached.  Frost cupcakes.

Bumpy Cake Cupcakes

My wonderful neighbor Lisa had a birthday this weekend.  She's from Detroit, home to a culinary delight known as Bumpy Cake.  I really wonder how this cake developed; it is quite bizarre yet familiar.  The original Bumpy Cake came from a company in Michigan called Sanders.  Basically, it's a rich chocolate cake topped with rows of butter cream icing "bumps" and a layer of ganache over that. 
(Warning: I must emphasize here that I strayed incredibly far from my pseudo-vegan/health conscious roots here.  I even bought corn syrup....which is kind of magical.) Shh...don't tell.  I've never had good success with vegan ganache, but this vegan one was pretty great.

Here's my cupcake take:

Pre-ganache

Bumpy Cake Cupcakes
Source: lovestoeat.wordpress.com
Yield: 11 cupcakes

Ingredients for cake:
11/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
11/4 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Ingredients for buttercream:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Ingredients for ganache topping:
4 T cocoa
2 T oil
2 T + 4 t water
2 T dark corn syrup
2 C powdered sugar

Directions for the cake:
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in a cupcake pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Bring the sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour into a large bowl; add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly.
4. Stir in the vanilla. Using a mixer, beat in the eggs, then mix in the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 25 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.

Directions for the butter cream:
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Fill pastry bag and  set aside.

Directions for the ganache:
1. Mix all except sugar in a saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot. Mix in sugar and stir until smooth.

To assemble:
After cupcakes cool, pipe strips of butter cream on each cupcake. Freeze for at least 30 mins. Make ganache and once frozen, dip the cupcakes into the ganache. Refridgerate until set. Enjoy with a large glass of cold (almond or soy) milk!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Happy St. Patty's Day!
I made these cupcakes for a coworker and they were amazing.  However, they aren't vegan.  Technically, they aren't even vegetarian since apparently Guinness is processed with enzymes from fish or something along those lines.  Luckily, these are loaded with alcohol so as a vegetarian you can be excused for your poor judgment, right?
Enjoy!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Source: Smitten Kitchen via With Sprinkles on Top
Yield: 22-24 cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Directions for cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 tea. salt in large bowl to blend.
4. In another bowl, beat eggs and sour cream together with an electric mixer or by hand.
5. Add the stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine.
6. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed or by hand. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
7. Fill the lined cupcake pans 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake 17 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.

Ingredients for ganache filling: (I recommend doubling)
4 oz. bittersweet baker’s chocolate
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon Irish Whiskey

Directions for filling:
1. Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heat-proof bowl.
2. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 1 minute and then stir until smooth. This should sufficiently melt the chocolate- if not, put over a double boiler.
3. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.
4. Let the ganache cool and thicken. Stir occasionally.
5. Meanwhile, using a knife, cut out 1-inch circles in the cupcakes. Remove the centers of the cake, going about 2/3 of the way down into the cupcake.
6. Put the ganache in a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Nobody has to know if they aren't perfect, unless you blog about it!

Ingredients for frosting: (I doubled but you can get away without)
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey’s

Directions for frosting: - This is the hardest part to do by hand but it can be done!
1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer or by hand.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add the desired amount of Bailey’s (or milk, if you don’t like Baileys) to the frosting to make it a little creamier.
4. Ice the cupcakes and decorate.  I used a piping bag because it is fun!

Notes:
- I made these over the course of a few days since there are so many steps!
- Baileys is going in all of my frosting from here on out- wow!
- If you don't have a mixer, be prepared for a workout!  It will help to have the butter at room temperature, not just slightly softened.

Happy St. Patty's Day!