Cookin' with Whiskey

I recently had the opportunity to be a part of a special birthday.  All birthday's are special, but when you are turning 93 that is pretty awesome.  What is even better, is when you turn 93 you can pretty much do whatever you want for your birthday.  And if a big blow out party is what you want, a big blow out is what you get.

Our neighbor is a character in the neighborhood, everyone knows him and he knows everyone.  He often puts in requests for the "young guys" to have fire pits so he can join them and have an excuse for a shot or two of Crown Royal.  It is known throughout the neighborhood that he has a love for the Crown, so it wasn't a surprise when his daughter asked if I could make a Crown Royal cake for his birthday.

The cake was a chocolate and vanilla layer and  was super easy to do, although my icing marbled when I applied it, which was super annoying.  Since the cake wasn't very exciting I decided to do something that the birthday boy might appreciate a little bit more - Irish Car Bomb cupcakes.  Now I'm not a big fan of the name, but the drink is fun and the cupcake is fabulous.

 I have made Stout cupcakes in the past and they good.  The stout is a perfect pairing with the chocolate, but you add a little whiskey and Bailey's and these cupcakes become great.  They are a wonderful addition to a 93rd birthday celebration, a St. Patrick's day party or anytime some special adult only treats are needed.

Stout Cupcakes (Courtesy of Jami Schmidt)

3/4 cup of unsweetened coca plus more for dusting at the end
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Baking soda
Pinch of fine salt
1 bottle of Guinness (room temperature)
1 stick melted butter (cooled slightly)
1 tbs Pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 24 cupcake tins with liners
Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl. In another mixing bowl combine stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream until combined and smooth. Gradually add in the dry.

 Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating half way through  

Whiskey Ganache
8 oz. dark chocolate (chips or finely chopped)
2/3 cup milk 
2 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. Whiskey

Place chocolate in small bowl.  In small saucepan heat milk over medium high heat, bring to a simmer.  Pour milk over chocolate, let sit for 1-2 minutes then stir until smooth. Add butter and whiskey, stir until smooth and combined.  Let ganache cool and thicken. 

Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting (Courtesy Martha Stewart)
3 sticks unsalted, room temp butter
4 C. powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur


In mixing bowl cream butter until smooth.  Slowly add powder sugar, scraping down the sides as needed.  Beat for 3-4 until frosting is light and fluffy.  Add Bailey's, mix for another 3-4 minutes making a light and creamy frosting.  

Cupcake assembly:  Once cooled remove center of cupcake using the bottom of a large pastry tip.  Fill with ganache.  Once all cupcakes are filled top with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting.  

Shared at:

Cherry Coke and Strawberry Daiquiri

This past weekend I went back to the 80's.  A friend was celebrating her 40th birthday and her husband threw her a great party.  We started off with a wonderful dinner where we all behaved like adults and then regressed back to our youth as the night went on.  The birthday girl requested a cupcake bar at her celebration.  She didn't request any particular flavors, just a fun variety.  I worked with another friend to come up with a couple flavor options and after much deliberation we decided on Strawberry Daiquiri, Key Lime, Cherry Coke and Chocolate Cream.  I didn't get any pictures of the final cupcake display, we didn't set it up until later in the evening and had left the "adult" stage far behind us.  I am hoping there is a picture of the cupcakes out there somewhere as we decided to make themed cupcake wrappers about 3 hours before the party.  We found paper reminiscent of each of her 40 decades and cut wrappers using this template.  They took more time than we anticipated, but they were really cute and made the display look wonderful.
I made the Strawberry Daiquiri and Cherry Coke cupcakes and was very happy with both.  I have been playing around some adult flavor cupcakes and the Strawberry Daiquiri is definitely one I will be adding to my list.  The rum taste was subtle, but flavorful enough that you knew what you were having.  I opted with a buttercream frosting since they were going to be in the car and then sitting outside, but I think they would be great with just simple whipped cream topping.

For the daiquiri cupcakes I used a basic white cake mix and followed the directions on the box replacing the water with daiquiri mix and rum and adding a little lime zest.  As I said they were flavorful without being overly powerful.  I topped them with a rum and lime zest buttercream and they were decorated with a little more zest and half a strawberry.

The Cherry Coke cupcakes were also a big hit, both within my family and at the party.  I was lucky to leave the house them, I think Will would have been happy eating the entire batch.  The coke flavor is not very strong, but it does give the cupcakes a great texture and when mixed with the cherry juice you definitely know what you are eating.  Steph over at Cupcake Project recommends using Kola extract to enhance the flavor.  I was short on time and wasn't able to order some for this batch, but would love to have some on hand for future batches, it would make these cupcakes perfect.


Cherry Coke Cupcake
Printer Ready  makes 24 cupcakes

3 c. Flour
1/4 c. Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
2. c. Butter, at room temperature
1 c. Buttermilk
2. c. Cocoa-Cola
1 tsp. Maraschino Cherry Juice
24 Maraschino Cherries, stemless

Preheat oven 350.  Line cupcake pan with wrappers, set aside.  

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.  In bowl of electric mixer cream sugar and butter, mix together until light and fluffy.  In medium bowl mix together buttermilk, cocoa-cola and cherry juice.  Alternately add flour and liquid mixture to creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour.  Divide batter evenly between cupcake tins.  Drop one cherry into each cupcake.  Bake for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
Top with cherry flavored buttercream and whole cherry.  

Cherry Buttercream
Printer Ready

½  c. Vegetable Shortening
½ c. Butter, at room temperature
4 c. Confectioners Sugar, sifted
1 Tbs. Milk
2 Tbs. Cherry Juice
¼ c. Finely Chopped Maraschino Cherries

In mixing bowl cream shortening and butter together until smooth and blended.  Slowly add confections sugar, scrapping bowl as necessary.  Add milk mix until fluffy.  Add cherry juice, mix until combined. Carefully stir in cherries.