Guinness Cupcakes with Baily’s Frosting

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!  Our weather here has been absolutely beautiful for the past several days so we spent quite a bit of time outside, but I did manage to try out this new recipe in honor of St. Patty’s Day.

I realize that had I been thinking clearly I would have done this post prior to St. Patrick’s Day, but I didn’t decide I wanted to try out these little bits of yummyness until the day of, and just because they have Guinness and Baily’s in them doesn’t mean that they can only be enjoyed on the actual St Patrick’s Day Holiday.  They were easy to make and very tasty.  However, I do believe that if you were to have a couple in one sitting that you could get a little bit buzzed.  So please enjoy….in moderation 🙂

I borrowed this recipe from SuzyBakes, (posted below) but actually cut it in half because I knew there was no possible way we would finish 2 dozen cupcakes.  FYI….if you would like to cut the recipe in half as well I highly reccommend converting the measurements into ounces, and using your food scale because it’s much easier to use half of 6oz then it is to try and measure half of 3/4c etc.

For the (full recipe) cupcakes you will need

1 bottle Guinness

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Preparation:

  • Combine your flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
  • Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in large saucepan  over medium heat.
  • Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.
  • Beat eggs and sour cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer.
  • Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined.
  • Add flour mixture and beat on low speed.
  • Use a rubber spatula to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined
  • Divide  batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes rotating about half way through until your cake tester, inserted into center comes out clean,
  • Cool  cupcakes on a rack completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

1 tablespoon milk

Preparation:

  1. Place the butter in a  mixing bowl and beat until creamy.
  2. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well  after each addition, until the icing is  thick enough to be of good consistency. You may not need to add all of  the sugar. (I probably used about 2 cups and my icing was creamy, not stiff, but that’s how I like it)
  3. After all sugar has been added, add Bailey’s and milk and blend until just combined.
  4. Frost once cupcakes are completely cooled and decorate as you wish

The cupcakes were deliciously rich with just a hint of Guinness flavor, and the sweetness of the sugar blended pefectly with the Baily’s to balance out the entire cupcake….although, just like any chocolate dessert, I highly reccommend a nice cold glass of milk to go along with it!

Have you ever used beer or another flavored liquor to bake with???

If so…please share 🙂

Advertisement

Get in Shape Girl

Are there any other 80’s babies out there who remember this??

I definitely had the cassette and video as a little girl growing up and remember wanting to be just like the girls on TV.  However, my personal favorite piece of workout equipment was my ballet bar.  I started taking dance classes when I turned 3 and contiuned with Ms. Fordu until I was 18.  I still to this day have no idea how she was able to choreograph so many numbers for so many years.  She was Amazing!

Oh…and I LOVED the water!  Swimming has always been a big deal in my family.  My brothers and I were introduced to the water at a very young age.  We all took lessons until we were old enough to be on the swim team and I continuted to do that competitively until I was 18.  I loved swimming and I was pretty good at it 🙂  The pool was and still is….My Happy Place.

I remained active and still had a speedy metabolism through college so I stayed relatively fit.  Then my mid twenties hit and everything slowed down.  I no longer had that speedy metabolism, and if I went too long without working out, my body showed it.  Then I got pregnant

and had my Beautiful Baby Boy

and for the best reason possible….my entire body transformed

I know it’s a fact of life, that as you age your body changes (especially after carrying and birthing a baby)  and I’m sure I will never have my 18 year old body again, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have some semblance of it.  And because I am one of those people who does better when given a plan to follow, and someone to help hold me accountable for my workouts I have decided to take on two challenges.

First…I signed up for a training group to help prepare me for the Huntersville Sprint Triathlon on April 29th.

It’s a 500M Swim, a 20K (12mi) Bike Ride, and a 5K(3.1mi) Run.  I’m in a group of 6 women that meets once a week with our trainer (The Race Director) for a group workout, but we have also been given a workout plan to follow for 6 days of the week which is great for me because I don’t have to think about what workout I will do for the day.  It’s all laid out for me!  I started my training back in January and it consists of 2 swimming workouts, 2 biking workouts, and 2 running workouts per week.  I did my first sprint triathlon back in 2008, so this is not my first, however, the distances are a bit longer and this one is much bigger so I think the training will really benefit me come race day.  After getting back into the water and swimming laps I realized just how much I missed it, and eventhough I am not nearly as fast as I once was, I have already noticed my times improving, and for that I am pleased.

The second thing that I just recently started is Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp.  Again it’s great because it is a workout plan that is laid out for me with specific circuit training workouts and cardio options, for 5 days out of the week.  It works perfectly with my Triathlon Training, as I am able to coordinate both for a complete body workout.   Add in some healthier eating habits and I am determined to feel good about my Mom Body come Boat Season!!  I have never let the numbers on the scale dictate my happiness with my body, because I’m not in any way shape or form petite, and I will never weigh 120 lbs because  that is not a healthy weight for me, rather, I will know I reached my goals by the way my clothes feel on me, and the way I feel when I look at myself in the mirror.

I enjoy working out, and I love the way it makes me feel when I’ve completed something that has pushed my body to a certain limit so I am excited, and determined to Live my Best Life, and part of that means rocking my Best Mom Body before I get pregnant with Baby #2!

 Do you have workout that takes you to your happy place??

8 Months

So Garrett is 8 months old…..already. It seems like yesterday he looked like this, and its hard to believe that a little over a year ago we had just picked out his name. It’s bittersweet that our baby is so quickly becoming a little person, but it’s so much fun watching him learn and grow every day.

February was a very busy month for us.

Garrett went swimming to the pool

Flew to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa Brewton

And got his first cold.

 Although that was no fun for any of us, I have to say I am pleased that we made it through 8 whole months without so much as a runny nose!

We don’t go back to the Dr.’s until the end of the month so I don’t have any offical stats right now, but if I had to guess, I would say Garrett is just over 19 lbs and around 31″ long.

He’s wearing 9-12 month clothes

Size 5 shoes!! (which is very big for an 8 month old)

He easily maneuvers from his belly to a sitting or crawling position and vice versa

Is very mobile and perfectly capable of getting up on all fours and taking one or two movements forward

but realizes that he can get to where he wants to go much faster if he crawls with his belly on the ground

He enjoys being outside

as long as he is not sitting directly on the grass

He sleeps at least 9 hours at a time

Eats 3 solid meals a day (mostly pureed, but he’s starting to get the hang of finger foods) and takes 3-4 bottles a day

Loves playing with Daddy (even when he’s under the weather)

Bathtime in the big tub

and is the best ever at making people smile.

We love you so much Monkey!!