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My family has a little Irish in it on my mom's side. The fair skin, the light eyes, and a few "Fitzgeralds" somewhere in the lineage. But truth be told, we never spent much time observing Irish culture. And so every year when St. Patrick's Day rolls around, I've never given it much thought.
But when I received Martha Stewart's March issue and saw her recipe for Irish Cream Cupcakes, I knew that it was finally time to give some attention to my Irish roots.
The ingredients for these little cakes include the basics: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, etc. And butter. Another whole stick of butter.
Yes...that means I have gone through 3 sticks of butter in the past 5 days. Apparently I'm turning into Julia Child....
Additionally, to accomplish the "coffee" element, the cupcakes called for instant espresso to round out the flavor, and fortunately for me I always keep a little on hand specifically for baking purposes like this...
And then came my handy Kitchen-Aid mixer. It still pleases me to watch it mix so obediently while I keep myself otherwise occupied. Truly it won't be long before I'm caught saying things like, "I don't know how I ever managed without one," and "every woman needs this appliance."
Now here's where my baking enterprise admittedly gets a little obnoxious. You see, the only paper cups I had on hand were leftovers from Valentines Day. Which means that they have red hearts on the bottom and lots of pink stripes. Now everyone knows that you CAN'T put desserts themed for one holiday (in this case, St. Pats Day) into cups designed for another, and so I had a serious dilemma.
So here's the obnoxious part: rather than go to the store to just buy generic cups like a normal person, I decided to be an overachiever and make my own cups from parchment paper. And so I diligently measured each parchment square, and even used special craft scissors to cut a jagged edge on each one.
It was the kind of move that could get you harmed in some parts of the world. The parts that don't take kindly to overzealous displays of free time and unnecessary crafting. 
Oh...I almost forgot to mention that these cupcakes also have whiskey in them. These snacks aren't for children, people.
And here, my friends, is the result. Some whipped cream frosting sprinkled with espresso powder and they truly do remind me of an irish cream coffee.
My favorite part about them is that they weren't very sweet. Only half-a-cup of sugar in the cakes and a spoonful in the frosting allowed the other flavors, like coffee and liquor, to come through.
And yes--to round it all out I did pair mine with a glass of Guinness, although I couldn't convince many of my friends to do the same.
There's still time to bake your own Irish Cream treats before St. Patty's Day! I'd give you the link to the recipe, but as usual I can't find it online. So snatch a copy of Martha's March issue and bake away!
Today is my thirtieth birthday! Hip Hip Hooray! I know that ordinarily people mourn such a day, but frankly I'm excited and eager to start a new decade of living!
Although I do confess that I might have to buy an anti-aging nightcream.... Not everything about getting older is exciting....
Here's to a great new year full of possibility!
P.S. Thanks, Mom, for working so hard to get me here on this day! I appreciate it!
I haven't posted any of my baking undertakings lately, and I figured that perhaps it was time once again for some lovely sweets. Fortunately, my sister was visiting and in the mood for cupcakes, and so I had the perfect excuse to dust off my muffin tins.
Now it has come to my attention that perhaps some of you have developed this impression of me as some type of homemaking diva. The type that makes everything from scratch, and always has a batch of warm cookies baking in the oven when someone comes over for a visit.
And it is true that hospitality is a quality of elegant females. And that I prefer to make things from scratch. And that I do often have frozen cookie dough in my freezer. But...I am not exempt from baking disasters.
With the best of intentions, and fresh ingredients, I managed to deliver some of the worst cupcakes I have ever baked. Everything went wrong. Everything.
The middles sunk into sad hollows. The edges turned crispy brown while the centers stayed gooey.
And they were chewy. Not fluffy. Not moist. Not light and airy.
Chewy.
What went wrong, you ask? Well...we're not entirely sure, but the baking powder is our leading suspect.
So what did I do about my gruesome cupcakes?
I did what every normal person would do. I threw them away, went to Wal-Mart, and bought a cake mix. A cake mix that I will use later today to redeem this sad, sad baking story.And hope that this time they turn out something like the cupcake above.
What is your worst baking disaster? Make me feel better and share your story here by commenting below!
It is a cloudy Friday, so my end-of-the-summer plans to lounge by the pool soaking up rays while reading books suddenly looks a little gray.
But I'm not worried. I have other things to tickle my fancy. Here are five things I'm loving on this cloudy Friday afternoon:
These earrings, which I'm raffling off today. I love the fresh green color, don't you? They'll be a reminder of summer during the whole year!
These strawberry cupcakes With strawberry frosting. I had a hankering for them when I saw a photo of a similar sugary delight on a blog last week. So I consulted Martha, and found a recipe. After a few modifications and a lot of licking the frosting beaters, I now have strawberry goodness to last all week!
These vintage fashions. Oh how I wish I was born in a bygone era... (for more info and links on these dresses, click here.)
This cardigan I'm knitting with fervor. Yes, it is probably the fifth cardigan I've tried, and yes, all of the others were disasters. But what can I say? I'm shamelessly hopeful that this is the The One that will turn out.
And these socks, which I just finished. Didn't I tell you that summer was a great time to knit--if not wear--socks? They're complete in plenty of time for fall weather!
Hope you enjoy your Friday!
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