Cupcakes A to Z: Bailey's Cupcakes

I wish I could tell you that my absence has been because some tall, dark, handsome man swept me away in a whirlwind of romance and that I've been getting fanned by palm leaves and being fed peeled grapes by said handsome man and basically living in a crazy-mad fairytale.....

The truth is that my brain literally stopped functioning.  Well - except for the living, and breathing, and moving, and stuff. 

As someone who rarely lacks something to say, I had such huge writer's block (at least I like to think of that way!) that everything I typed into this little box ended up being "blah, blah, blah, yakkity, yak, yak.  Boring, boring, yawn."  I know it had been evident in some of my previous posts.

Truth be told - I thought it best to just put the whole thing aside and wait until I felt more like myself.

And it's NOW.

I know I already posted about Bailey's Cupcakes, but I really wanted to find a "from scratch" variety - as you know about my lack of enthusiasm when it comes to boxed mixes.

I also wanted to find both a vanilla and a chocolate variety - for those who prefer either/or.

On a windy May afternoon, I dragged myself away from Season 3 of Lost (which PS was REALLY. HARD. to do) and dug in.

Let's start with the chocolate one.

First, mix some cocoa powder with boiling water and stir until there are no lumps left and the cocoa powder is completely dissolved.  Then let it cool.

Then add the Bailey's.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Then add an egg.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then add the cocoa mixture, then the remaining flour.

Then portion and bake.

Now for the vanilla version.

You'll need to separate the eggs. (Or egg, as the case is here - I halved the recipe)

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the egg yolk.

Then add the vanilla.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the Bailey's.  The recipe says to add a splash of milk if it seems dry - but I didn't need to do that.

Remember how you separated that egg?  Well, now beat that white until stiff peaks form.

Then gently fold it into the batter.

Then portion and bake.  The recipe says 22 to 25 minutes, but I can't remember the exact timing on that.

I have to say that I was not terribly impressed with the chocolate version.  It seemed off somehow - like maybe it needed more sugar?  The texture was lovely, but I wasn't terribly excited by the taste.

The VANILLA version however.  Yum, yum, yum.  Moist and decadent with a strong Bailey's taste.  So, so good.

YUM!  That's a keeper for SURE.

This is the Cane Girl - signing off.

Bailey's Cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, separated, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a stand mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
4. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the Bailey's and mixing well after each addition.  (If the batter seems thick, add a little milk - or more Bailey's!)
7. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
8. Gently fold the egg whites into the cupcake batter.
9. Portion into paper liners.
10. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Source:  Jacki's Bento Blog