Recipes Discovered

Irish Car Bomb Cupcake Recipe

Last year for St. Patrick’s Day, I made a few different desserts but everyone’s favorite was the Chocolate Guinness Cake. That cake is still one of my favorites, so this year, I decided to turn them into cupcakes. The idea behind the cupcakes is taken from the Irish Car Bomb drink, which is made from stout (Guinness), Irish whiskey (Jameson), and Irish Cream (Bailey’s). The whiskey is floated on top of Irish cream in a shot glass that is then dropped into a pint of stout. Although the drink was invented in the United States, the name of the drink refers to a very violent period in Ireland called “The Troubles” when the use of car bombs was very prevalent. Because of this, very few places in Ireland will actually serve it and it’s usually quite offensive to ask. That being said, it does make for one great cupcake. Chocolate Guinness cake filled with a chocolate whiskey ganache and topped with an Irish cream frosting. The frosting in super sweet, so a little goes a long way, but it pairs really well with the dark chocolate cake and the creamy filling. Despite the offending name, the cupcakes are delicious and make a great St. Patrick’s Day treat.

Click here to see the recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Having returned from another trip to Key West, I was inspired to make these Key Lime cupcakes. It may have had something to do with the fact that the recipe is based on amazing coconut cupcakes made by Ina Garten or maybe a little to do with the white chocolate frosting, but really, it was the bag of key limes I brought back with me. Key limes look like miniature limes, about the side of a quarter. They have a slightly sweeter taste than a regular lime and also produce more juice (although it still takes quite a bit of time to squeeze a quarter cup of juice). It’s definitely worth the time to make these cupcakes though, because they are delicious. The texture is perfect, the flavor is intense, and the white chocolate frosting is the perfect sweet topping. There is sour cream in the frosting, which sounds a little strange, but it really balances out the sweetness, so don’t omit it. All in all, it’s a winning combination.

Get the recipe for Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting Recipe here

Banana Crunch Muffins

Since Seth loves banana, and I had a few very ripe bananas that needed to be used up, I decided to make banana muffins. The batter is very similar to a banana cake batter, with the addition of walnuts, coconut, and granola. The granola seems a little odd, but it gives the muffins a nice crunch. The muffins are really moist and wonderful on their own, no need for frosting. And I had much better luck getting the paper off these muffins than with the apple crumb muffins.

Apple Crumb Muffins Recipe

Seth wanted an apple cake and I wanted a coffee cake, so somehow we compromised on these Apple Crumb Muffins. The muffins are simple to make, since they are made from a standard crumb cake batter (with chopped apples), just baked in muffins tins. The topping is butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. One of the recipes I read called for melting the butter in the topping, which I thought kind of made sense since it would be easier to mix together. Do not do it! Because the butter was already melted. the topping just ran off the muffins instead of making a crunchy top, and it made some kind of glue that fused the muffins to the paper liners making it nearly impossible to get the paper off without destroying the muffins. On the upside, the muffins taste really good. They are very moist, and aren’t overly sweet. Just watch out for the paper while you are eating them.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes Recipe

Having a lot of leftover egg yolks and chocolate ganache from the cake I made earlier this week, I decided to make Boston Cream Pie again, but this time in the form of cute little cupcakes. Instead of a sponge cake, I made traditional vanilla cupcakes, filled them with pastry cream, and topped them with chocolate ganache. Although they were a little more work to make, I think they are a lot more “eater friendly”, if that makes sense. They hold up better as well. The cupcakes turned out really well, especially since it was my first time actually filling cupcakes. I’ll have to do some research now to find some other cupcake fillings.