Bailey's Black and White Cupcakes

Aside from openmindedness and appreciation of diversity and all that good stuff, one of the benefits of having parents from different cultural backgrounds is the number of holidays my family celebrates. And yes, I am indeed part Irish so unlike SOME of you green beer -swilling heathens out there I possess a legitimate right to celebrate St. Patrick's Day thankyouverymuch. (Fake snark alert: feel free to get down with your badass green beer -drinking self whenever your heart desires).


But let's be honest, for us St. Patrick's Day has nothing to do with culture or saints or snakes or Ireland and everything to do with family and food. Saturday night was our annual St. Patrick's day dinner, and as usual my aunt's corned beef and cabbage solidified her reputation as, like, the best cook EVER. Corned beef and cabbage is one of those meals that sounds disgusting and doesn't look or smell much better, but it tastes sogoodsosaltysomuchflavor and ugh vegetarianism be damned I have a weakness for it to the point where its not even funny. My aunt also makes an amazing irish soda bread with raisins that is dense and sweet and beyond fabulous, as well as great cole slaw and great potatoes and seriously everything she touches is usually delicious, so I was at a bit of a loss as to how I could possibly make a dessert that people would even want to LOOK at after that amazing dinner.


The answer? Alcohol. (As usual, amirite?). To be specific, Bailey's Irish Cream. Lots of it. Bailey's in the cupcake batter. Bailey's in the chocolate ganache. Bailey's in the buttercream frosting. Bailey's swigged straight from the bottle as I toiled in the kitchen...

Just kidding. That's gross. I used a glass.

The cupcakes were inspired by a recipe from Better Home & Gardens, but as I started making the batter I didn't like the results I was getting (too thick, not enough chocolate, etc.) so I tweaked the recipe as I went along, and improvised the frosting. The result was a moist and surprisingly light cupcake with deeeelicious frosting flavored with just enough Bailey's to make it interesting. The chocolate half of the cupcake could have used some more flavor so going forward I might substitute cocoa powder, but all in all the cupcakes were a crowd pleaser and I'll def be keeping one in the freezer to celebrate with on the REAL St. Paddy's day after I'm done taking the MPRE (come to think of it, the entire bottle of leftover Bailey's might come in handy as well).

Bailey's Black and White Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place paper liners in 24 cupcake/muffin molds. In a medium mixing bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until soft, adding the sugar, vanilla, and liqueur. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl every once in awhile. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixture, mixing until just combined.


Why buttermilk? The acid in buttermilk reacts with baking soda to produce bubbles of carbon dioxide, hence why buttermilk is the preferred liquid of many cooks for making light, high-rising biscuits, scones, pancakes, etc. In this case it lends itself to a light cupcake with a very soft and fluffy crumb.

Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl and add the melted chocolate. Fill each cupcake mold about 2/3 of the way full, spooning chocolate batter into one side of the cup and white batter into the other.


Bake about 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes and set on the racks to cool entirely.

Symmetry has never been my strong suit

For the Bailey's Ganache:
Bring 1/2 cup of whipping cream just to a boil. Remove from heat, add 6oz chopped bittersweet chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.


Add 2 tbsp Bailey's and stir until smooth. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until somewhat thickened, and then smoosh about a tablespoons-worth onto the top of each cupcake, smearing it around a bit with the back of a spoon until relatively flat but not dripping over the side.


Let set (about 1 hour or 15 minutes in the fridge).


For the Bailey's Icing:
Mix 2 sticks butter (room temperature) with 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar until well blended. If you have a mixer, great. If not, this can be done by hand. Add in 3 healthy tablespoons of Bailey's and mix well. Spread onto the top of cupcakes with a knife or use a pastry bag with a wide tip.


For some extra flair, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, crushed coffee beans, or green sugar crystals.


Enjoy!