Irish Cream Cupcakes
My mom went out of town this weekend, which means that poor, helpless little me was left at home. During this time, we ran out of milk. Now, I never buy milk, and I wasn’t going to start now, so when I decided to make cupcakes, the only dairy left in the fridge was good ol’ Carolan’s Irish Cream. An instant spark went off in my head and I went searching for recipes. Almost every one I found called for instant coffee (blech), so I modified it to make it my own. Meet the new and improved Irish Cream Cupcakes.
Irish Creme Cupcakes
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Irish Cream (any brand will do)
1/3 cup water
1 serving size packet of Nestle Carnation instant Hot Cocoa mix
2 cups A-P Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325F. In one bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about
3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. In second bowl, mix water, Bailey’s and hot chocolate packet. Mix thoroughly. In third bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, alternating with the liquor mixture, until all ingredients are mixed.
Bake for about 25 minutes, or until done.
To make the Irish Buttercream frosting, take 1/3 cup butter (softened) and blend it with about 2 Tbsp of Irish Cream, or more if you want a stronger taste. While blending, add 3 cups of powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until the frosting thickens. It should be thick enough to hold its shape when poured. Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes after cooling to keep the frosting from running. For a less rich topping, plop some whipped cream on top and sprinkle very lightly with unsweetened cocoa powder. That's it!