Chocolate Boozy Cake Love: Holiday Throwdown Part 2

Aren't you special...

If anyone can come up with a more official title for these, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm looking for something a little more original than the obvious. (HINT: The three special ingredients are Guinness, Jameson, and Baileys).

I am SO thrilled that so many people were able to try these. I have been planning on making them for quite a long while. I thought they would be pretty labor intensive, but with strategic planning it really wasn't too bad. I waited so long to make them that they became kind of grandiose in my mind. Fortunately, they lived up to the occasion and vice/verse.

Because I was so busy when I made these, I made the cupcakes and the ganache the night before I intended to fill/frost them. I have heard that the cupcakes will keep for up to two weeks in the freezer before you want to use them!

These are definitely grown up cupcakes. Sure, there's straight Jameson in the chocolate ganache and Baileys mixed into the cream cheese icing, but they have a subtle, dark chocolatey sweetness that makes you feel downright fancy. No one element of the cupcake stands alone and overpowers. Every flavor leads into the next fluidly, and beautifully. The original recipe called for buttercream icing, but I said no thank you. Why would I make an icing that is almost completely butter and only good in very small quantities when I could use cream cheese? (AND THEN ADD BOOZE TO IT!)

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness (or some equally flavorful dark stout)
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
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

*I used regular unsweetened cocoa and it came out wonderfully. I would have bought the good stuff if MurderKroger had it.

Jameson Chocolate Ganache (Can only be described as sexy.)

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbl butter, room temperature
2 tsp Jameson (...seriously.)

Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 oz. bar of cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz. butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar
6 Tbl Bailey's Irish Cream*

*Regarding the alcohol: I really could not get any of the flavor I was looking for in the icing and the ganache until I added the full recommended amount. That said, feel free to add as little as you want or more to your taste. Just be careful that the frosting doesn't become runny.

Method: Cake

Preheat the oven to 350. I forgot to get an exact count, but I would recommend preparing for about 24 cupcakes. I used silver liners because really, what else is there?

Bring the stout and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Enjoy the smell. Add cocoa powder to the mixture and whisk together. Let the mixture cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 tsp. salt. In an electric mixer (or a stand mixer if you're lucky enough to have one), beat the eggs and sour cream until blended. Add the beery chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat until just blended. At a slow speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Once the all of the flour is in the bowl, turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture until it is completely combined. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 of the way.

Bake for about 17 minutes, check that a toothpick comes out clean since this batter is very moist. I forgot to do this, and my cupcakes were a *tiny* bit underdone, but I like moist cake so I will chalk it up to good luck.

Method: Ganache Filling

I always prefer to use a double boiler when melting chocolate, but I was short on time so I went with the quick and dirty method. I roughly broke up the chocolate, put it in a microwave safe bowl, and heated it at thirty second intervals. Stir the chocolate at every 30 second mark, and keep an eye on it. Once it starts to get melty I usually switch to shorter intervals.

While you are microwaving or using your own preferred method to melt the chocolate, heat the cream until it simmers. Add the simmering cream and room temperature butter to the melted chocolate and whisk gently to combine. Stir in the whiskey to taste.

Method: Fill the Cupcakes

You can buy cupcake corers, you can buy 1 inch round cookie cutters, or you can take inventory of your kitchen tools, spend NO money, and find something that works.

I am in the Alton Brown school of thought when it comes to "unitaskers". I used the end of a large wooden spoon to simply press a round hole in the cupcakes. This was the easiest way I could think of, and it worked beautifully.

I used a large star tip on a pastry bag to fill the cupcakes with ganache, and I had enough ganache to let it spill over the top into a pretty little peak. The appearance of the cupcake is up to you!

Method: Frosting (last one, promise)

Put the cream cheese, butter, and confectioners sugar in your bright green stand mixer (or large bowl), and beat on medium high until light and fluffy. Slowly add the baileys, I would recommend drizzling it while on low speed so that you don't overload the frosting and make it runny.

I used a smaller star tip to create the tiny peaks. It was my first time! I thought they came out pretty well.

Please enjoy these as much as I (we, everybody, all those randos at the 5 Spot) did.

love and... money. Yeah, money.

-E

Not sure how to say this....

But this is the best damn thing I have ever baked. These babies are so sweet, and chocolatey, and pretty much the closest you can get to Bailey's without getting your eyes wet. The cookie part alone is great, but then you put Bailey's buttercream in between two of them and you may as well get a new pair of pants because YOU WILL pee yourself from sheer happiness. Ok, think of it this way: cookies make you feel like a kid, Bailey's makes you feel like a naughty adult, the combination makes you feel like you can never grow old and never die- I mean you may as well be Keifer Sutherland in Lost Boys when you eat these.

Doesn't hurt to have a glass of Bailey's either.

That was also the best opening paragraph. Ever.

Now that I'm actually able to be myself and I'm not being monitored by a certain ludicrously conservative company all the time, I will try to have more of a sense of humor about this whole thing. I write and cook because I enjoy it, and because I make myself laugh. What's the point if I can't enjoy showing it to others. Plus, who wants to read boring instructions when you know I am ITCHING to toss in an f-bomb or two (I will try not to but... ya know).

Also, I would like to plug a blog created by one of my favorite people, you may know him from his work with Emotional Fat Crying Records: TACO SUMMER! I might be contributing to this once in awhile, but I will definitely be attending often.

Down to business. These are surprisingly easy and quick to make, just make sure you are sifting all dry ingredients so that you get a smooth cookie. Also, using high quality ingredients really makes a difference. I made two batches of these. The first ones were larger, and in my opinion much tastier, although the chocolate loving individual who consumed most of the second batch had no complaints between bites. As with all recipes, if you can get the best quality ingredients- do it.

For The Cookie Part:

Ingredients yield about 20 smaller pies or 10 larger ones (pictured)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened high quality cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 Tbl unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup Baileys

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Baileys Buttercream Icing:

12 Tbl unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 Tbl Baileys

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit, line a baking sheet with parchment. I ended up filling a half sheet and a regular sized cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Go to the extra effort to sift, it will really improve the texture of your cookies.

In a stand mixer combine butter and sugars using the paddle attachment on medium/high for about 3 minutes. Add the egg, mix until pale and fluffy for about 2 minutes. On low speed, mix in 1/2 the flour mixture gradually. Add the Baileys and vanilla until just blended, then add the remaining flour mixture.

Place dollops of the batter 2 inches apart on the baking sheet(s). It's quite sticky so you might want to shape it a little bit, notice the swirl I made on the top of the pie. Bake 10-12 minutes until the tops of the pies are "springy". I haven't mastered the consistency yet, but I think it's supposed to be rich and slightly cakey. Cool the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then cool the cookies on the rack until they reach room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the filling- and don't even think about spreading it between the pies until they are completely cooled. Buttercream melts! Combine the butter and sugars in the stand mixer (I continued to use the paddle attachment with no problems). Mix at high speed for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the Baileys and beat to combine.

If you're luckier than I am and you can actually find your pastry bag after you've moved, make some designs using a large star nozzle. Enjoy these, and good luck trying to share.

I have no rivals, I have inside me blood of kings.

-Emily

Brownies, Brownies

Let me preface this with saying, I have never claimed to be a baker... but I try! I had a lot of brownies to make for some very special people. I combed my most trusty cookbooks and websites only to find mixed reviews or questionable methods. Solution: two kinds of brownies.

So, this post is a "learn with me/do as I say not as I do" sort of thing. I was rushing, and rushing can lead to overlooking.... like the vanilla that fell over and hid behind my recipe book stand. It never made it into the final Dulce De Leche brownie batter... alas I think the creamy wonderful Dulce De Leche might have compensated for the lack of extract. As for the Outrageous Brownies, I only had kosher salt, whereas the recipe called for fine salt. This really wasn't too bad. I really enjoy the combination of salty and sweet, and you could actually taste the salt in the final product without it being completely overpowering. I would call that more of a happy accident, at least for me, but I would recommend using regular salt as it is an unexpected flavor for most people. Also for this recipe, Mama's got a brand new pan!

And oh. my. gosh. IT'S HUGE AND I'M OBSESSED WITH IT. If you are considering getting a half sheet for any reason (that's 18 x 12x 1), do it. They are fabulous and I'm sure it will last forever.

These recipes were adapted from two of my foodie heroes: David Lebovitz & Ina Garten.

Batch 1: Dulce De Leche Brownies

adapted from David Lebovitz

makes about 12 brownies.... depending on how you like to cut :)

8 tablespoons salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (don't forget!)
1 cup flour
optional: 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup Dulce De Leche, or Cajeta

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While you are doing this, I would recommend toasting the nuts. I like to place my nuts in a frying pan over medium and really keep an eye on them. They will become fragrant and darken a few shades. It doesn't normally take longer than about five minutes depending on the nut.

Apparently I just wasn't paying a terrible amount of attention to Mr. Lebovitz. He says the line the bottom of an 8 inch pan with foil and then grease the foil with non-stick cooking spray or butter, which I did not do. I did butter the pan, though, apparently I just did not even see the bit about the foil. This is the most likely reason why my brownies did not turn out nearly as pleasing to the eye as his. They were tasty, but they were definitely a carmel-y melty mess.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, then add the chopped chocolate and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. When it comes to chocolate- ALWAYS go low and slow. Remove from heat and whisk in the coco powder until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time (it will look a little funky at first, but have faith, by the third egg you will see the beautiful brownie batter begin to emerge), then the sugar, vanilla, and flour. Add the nuts at this point if you are using them.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared baking pan (foil & all!) and spread out. In even dollops, drop 1/3 of the Dulce De Leche onto the brownie batter and drag a knife gently through to swirl the batter slightly. Pour the rest of the brownie mix over the top and repeat the process with the remaining Dulce De Leche. I think I may have dragged my knife too heavily, for the incredibly amount of swirl that Mr. Lebovitz had in his brownies, I would almost recommend using something like a toothpick.

Bake 35-45 minutes, allow to cool completely. He says these brownies get better the second day, which is great since I immediately had to mail them off to my lucky gent! I think they will do fine in the fridge or covered with foil at room temp, up to you and how long you think you can make them last.

I try to practice Mise En Place, which means having all ingredients measured, chopped, open, etc. and ready to go so that you can cook quickly and efficiently. It is a good habit, but sometimes it falls to the wayside. I cannot stress enough, however, the importance of thoroughly reading an entire recipe before you begin preparing it. That has really saved me (or caused me) a lot of trouble more than a few times- obviously I should have done a better job of it this time!

Batch 2: Outrageous Brownies

adapted from Ina Garden, The Barefoot Contessa

Makes a whole bunch of brownies. I mean it.

1 pound unsalted butter

1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (they are sold in 1 lb. & 12 oz. bags at most grocery stores)

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate

6 extra-large eggs

3 tablespoons instant coffee granules

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups chopped walnuts ( I thought this was a little much, I used about 2 1/4 cups)

*Regarding the photo above with the butter and the chocolate; that melting process would have been quite a bit quicker if I had cubed the butter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a half sheet (18 x 12 x 1) pan.

Melt the unsweetened chocolate, the butter, and the 1 lb. chocolate chips in a medium bowl over simmering water. This is called a double boiler. I have an actual double boiler but the top bowl was much too small for the amount of chocolate and butter I was using. When doing this, make sure the water is just simmering, not boiling, and that the water is not touching the bottom of the pan. The only bowl I had that would fit was glass, so I was extra careful of the heat. Also, water ruins chocolate, so keep them away from each other! Once again, when melting chocolate: low & slow.

Remove the mixture from heat and allow it to cool slightly. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir (DO NOT BEAT) the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature. I waited at least 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir this into the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the 12oz chocolate chips and chopped walnuts with 1/4 cup flour, this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter. Stir the chips and walnuts into the batter (don't worry about the extra flour in the bottom of the bowl, you really just need the chocolate and nuts to be coated), then pour the brownie batter onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the edge of the pan on the oven rack to release excess air. Careful, you may spill a little of the batter into the oven and make your kitchen a little smokey. Yep, it happened to me. Bake for another 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean in the middle... I should really buy some toothpicks. Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut as you please. These freeze pretty well, and they are so fudgey and lovely. Worth the effort.

Enjoy, And learn from my mishaps!