Thursday, March 17, 2011

Irish Coffee Cupcakes




"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."

-Alex Levine



First I want to say I know this is late, for today is St. Patricks Day! I wanted to post these earlier in the week so perhaps one could potentially make these on this day of celebrating all that is Irish. But alas, life took over, and today is the first chance I got. But this is a great coffee flavored cupcake that can be used for other occasions as well.




 
I love Irish coffee. It brings back great memories from times spent at The Buena Vista in San Francisco. They are famous for their Irish coffee. It's fun to sit at the bar during busy times watching them making so many of them all lined up on the bar at once. Those bartenders know what they are doing.
 
 

I wanted to create a cupcake to honor that wonderful drink of coffee, sugar, cream and of course, Irish whiskey.




These cupcakes are delicious, (I just ate one) and wow! They are yummy. I took my favorite White Cupcake recipe and swapped out strong coffee (and a little instant coffee) for the water.



"As you ramble through life, whatever be your goal;

Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole."

-Irish proverb

I hope you have a wonderful St. Patricks Day!

Other Irish recipes you may like:

Luck of The Irish Cookies

Irish Soda Bread

 





Irish Coffee Cupcakes

makes 36 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups (1 lb) (454 g.) butter
2 cups (473 ml) strong coffee
1 Tablespoon instant coffee - (optional) this depends on how strong your coffee is, and how strong of coffee flavor you want the cupcakes to be. If you only use strong coffee,(and not any instant coffee) you will get a good coffee flavor. I used French Roast and brewed it strong. But if your coffee is weak, then you probably should add some instant.

4 cups (403 g.) all-purpose flour 
3 cups (583 g.) sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup (122 g.) sour cream
1 Tablespoon plus 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda


For Frosting

this makes enough to generously frost 36 cupcakes with about the amount I have on them. If you aren't going to pipe it on, and you want less than the amount than I've used, I'd cut back to 2 cups cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 TBS whiskey.

3 cups (1 1/2 pints) (750 ml) heavy cream
3/4 cup (150 g.) sugar
3 + Tablespoons whiskey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 Celsius or Gas Mark 4. In a large saucepan bring the butter, coffee and instant coffee (if using) to a boil. Remove from heat and add sugar, stir it till dissolved, then add sour cream, eggs and extracts. Stir until well combined. Add the flour, salt and baking soda then stir until well mixed.

Pour the batter into a large container with a pour spout, like a large measuring cup. Pour the batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake wrappers. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes on wire racks.

Directions for Frosting

Whip cream with a hand mixer or stand mixer. When peaks start to form, pour in sugar slowly while mixer is still going. Whip until stiff peaks form. Don't over mix. Add 3 Tablespoons of the whiskey. See if you want a stronger whiskey flavor, If you do, then add the another tablespoon. Taste it again, add more by the tablespoon if you think it needs it. I liked mine at about 4-5 Tablespoon but I could see how if you don't like the taste of whiskey so much you might just want a mild flavor.

Frost cupcakes when they are totally cool.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

They look absolutely delicious!

M.

Christine said...

I like the way you celebrated St. Pat's!
Those cupcakes have just the right amount of frosting, lots!

Amanda said...

These look so good!

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

Oh my ... they look divine! And the photos are goregous!

Trish said...

Wow! They look great.
I like the sounds of the recipe-thanks for sharing it :-)
And your photos are just lovely!
Happy St Patrick's Day.
blessings..Trish

Kathleen said...

They look and sound great. A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.

Kay K said...

Love your post !! the cupcakes sound yummy

Kathy Walker said...

These do sound great! I love the quotation that you included by Alex Levine.

Brianna! said...

OH YUM
Stop by
http://scrumpture.com/2011/03/15/itsy-bitsy-brianna-give-away/
For a FUN giveaway:)

xoxo
BB

Allison @ Alli 'n Son said...

These sound and look amazing!

I'd like to invite you to link up with my Sweet Tooth linky. I hope to see you there. http://alli-n-son.com/2011/03/17/soft-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

wispsofthought said...

These are fantastic! I put Baileys in the frosting rather than whiskey (I'm not a huge whiskey fan), and then came out amazing. A touch of greed food coloring in the frosting, and I've got the perfect treat to bring to my in-laws for dinner tomorrow. Thanks!

The Alchemist said...

wispsofthought- I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Baileys sounds delicious in the frosting. Thanks for letting me know how they turned out.

Amy said...

Oh wow, your Irish Coffee cupcakes look and sound delicious! I really love Irish coffee and can't wait to try these! Thanks for sharing.

Amy
http://utry.it

Christina Hunt said...

i have a question.. sorry if this sounds stupid. im gonna try this recipe on sat. hmm when you said 2 cups coffee, when i brew the coffee, the amt of water i place in the espresso machine is 1 cup? then i make 2 servings.. is that right? wont that be watery? or did you mean 2 cups of coffee without being brewed yet. as in the ground coffee beans? thanks!