The Brit loved it...

That, my friend, is a chocolate cupcake with Irish cream buttercream. A few weeks ago my roommate and I decided to stay in and make a dairy meal, so I decided to take advantage of it and make these cupcakes, and lasagna, but for now we'll focus on the cupcakes. I thought they were okay, but my roommate, the Brit, was OBSESSSED! She ate at least ten cupcakes over the course of the weekend, and thank God, because my trainer would not be happy if they ended up in my stomach. 

The recipe I used made a lot of cupcakes. The recipe said it would make sixteen, but I ended up with about thirty. A friend told me afterwards that Israeli cupcake liners are smaller than American ones, so this may be to blame, but who's complaining? I had a naked cupcake, and it was delicious. The perfect moist crumb with a rich chocolate flavor. The buttercream was not my favorite, but it was an experiment. I switched out the vanilla for Irish cream extract, and it was a bit too strong. I think next time I would try half and half of the vanilla and the Irish cream extract. But after messing around a bit with a piping bag they looked beautiful! 

Here's the recipe!

Chocolate Cupcakes

from Ladan

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter (or margarine), softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (or soy milk)
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
• 
  
• In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and beat well. 
• 
  
• Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Irish Cream Buttercream

adapted from Buttercream Icing

250g butter, softened

1 teaspoon Irish cream extract (or an extract of your choice)

5 cups of powdered sugar (you may need less depending upon the consistency you are looking for)

2 tablespoons milk

Cream together the butter and Irish cream extract. Blend in the sugar a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk until light and fluffy. Keep it covered until you use it.

Welcome

Hello!

At the behest of a few friends of mine I have finally started a blog. It is intended to be a baking blog, though I am known for going off on tangents so we'll see where it goes.

Enjoy!