Everyone's Irish on St. Patricks Day

Nothing drives me more crazy than being asked if I'm Irish.  Though, I must say that being in Southie on St. Patricks Day was amazing because I was among the most red-heads I've ever been around in once place ever!  Most people don't realize that being Irish you would mostly be brown hair, brown eyes.  Just because a Leprechaun has red hair and green eyes doesn't mean a girl's Irish!  Besides isn't everyone Irish on St. Patricks Day, so why are you asking anyway!?!?!   

For this week’s recipe I decided to make Guinness Stout Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream frosting.  This is something that I have been wanting to make for awhile now and never had an excuse, enter St. Patties Day.  Thank goodness I was headed to a party because these little morsels of deliciousness are dangerous with a capital D!  What better snack to bring to a house party of a lot of drunken “Irish” people (ahem…including myself…ahem).  They were a hit and the small bite sized cakes were perfect party snackers.  Enjoy! 

Guinness Stout Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting


Prep time 30 mins   Cook time  18 mins  Total time  48 mins

 Yield: 18 (60 mini cupcakes)

 

Ingredients

▪    ¾ cup of unsweetened cocoa

▪    2 cups sugar

▪    2 cups all purpose flour

▪    1 teaspoon baking soda

▪    pinch of salt

▪    ½ cup (1 US stick) butter, melted and cooled

▪    1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

▪    1 bottle of Guinness stout beer, room temperature (see note)

▪    3 large eggs

▪    ¾ cups sour cream

Instructions

·   Preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.

·   In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.

·   In another large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter and vanilla. Whisking the liquids as you pour, slowly add the stout. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the dry ingredients in 3-4 increments, stirring just to combine between each addition.

·   Fill the prepared pan so that each space is a bit more than ¾ full (this should make approximately 18 cupcakes). Bake until the cupcakes are just set, 16-18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking.

Notes

Recipe by Jami Schmidt and shared at Everyday Mom. NOTE: It is important that the Guinness and the melted butter both be at room temperature before combining them in order to create a cohesive, smooth liquid. If the Guinness is cold or the butter too warm, the butter will solidify into small pieces when combined.

Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

Prep time 10 mins   Total time 10 mins

Ingredients

▪    3 sticks unsalted, softened to room temperature

▪    4 cups powdered sugar

▪    3 Tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur.  (I added two nips worth and all it did was intensify the Bailey’s taste, it gave the frosting a bit of a kick)

Instructions

Cream butter until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar a bit at a time, scraping down the sides as needed. Add Bailey’s and beat until combined and smooth.

Recipe: Tomato, Bacon and Spinach Quiche

Author: Julie Murkerson

Prep time:  20 min, Cook time:  1 hour, Total time:  1 hour 20 mins

Yield: 8

Ingredients

1 9 inch pie crust

3 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and chopped up

⅓ C frozen spinach, thawed, rinsed and squeezed dry (1/3 C after squeezing dry)

3 tblsp onion, chopped

4 large eggs, beaten

1 C half and half

½ C milk

½ C shredded Swiss cheese

½ C shredded cheddar cheese

½ tsp ground pepper

⅛ tsp seasoned salt

¾ of a tomato, thin sliced, slices halved

Directions:

·   Place the pie crust in a 9″ round cake pan. Freeze for 15 minutes.

·   Bake the pie crust at 350 for 15 minutes.

·   In a mixing bowl, combine the beaten eggs, cheeses, milk, half and half, bacon, spinach, onion, pepper and seasoned salt.

·   Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and even out if needed. Top with the sliced tomatoes.

·   Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

·       Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

By: Key Ingredient (found on Pinterest)

For Cake:

½ C unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ C granulated sugar

1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin

3 eggs

2 ½ C all purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tblsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp cloes

½ tsp kosher salt

For Streusel:

¼ C all propose flour

¼ C granulated sugar

¼ C light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tblsp unsalted butter, melted

For Drizzle:

1 ½ C powdered sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tblsp skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans.  Line the bottoms with parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until combined, about 2 minutes.  Add pumpkin and eggs, beat until blended.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Pour batter evenly into two cake pans.  For the streusel, mix the ingredients together with a fork.  Sprinkle over batter.  Back cakes in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes completely.  For the drizzle, whisk ingredients together until smooth.  Drizzle onto cooled cakes and allow to set, about 30 minutes.  ENJOY!