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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!
warning: this post contains gratuitous images of pink frosting. Viewing these images may cause you to impulsively crave cake. We at Deviantly Domesticated take no responsibility for actions caused by this post and cannot be held liable.
Today's post, my friends, has very little to do with being a lady. Oh yes, I suppose that I could conjure up some profound kind of connection, like the feminine value of serving pretty desserts, or my fondness for all things pink. But really...I don't have the energy.
Although truth be told, I probably should have the energy since this lovely cake you are viewing was, in fact, my breakfast.
Not the whole cake, mind you. If it was the whole cake I would not be writing but would instead be spending some quality time in the restroom. Fortunately I have better restraint than that. 
I felt compelled to bake this little sugary treasure for a variety of reasons. First, it was one of my best friend's birthdays yesterday and I thought it an appropriate way to celebrate.
And, yes, I know that she lives in Los Angeles and I live in Colorado. I hardly see what that has to do with anything...
I've also developed a seasonal hankering for frosted treats, particularly adorned in shades of pink. I blame it on Valentine's Day and all of my magazines that feel it necessary to publish lush photos of such desserts every year around this time.
Obviously by now you've noticed that I decorated the top with polka dots of teensy round sprinkles. It just makes eating it all that much more enjoyable. Nevermind that the sides are lopsided and that it definitely resembles the Mad Hater leaning ever so slightly to the left on top of its cake stand.
In fact, the whole cake reminds me of some trippy psychedelic dish you might find in Wonderland. To be honest, I've never been all that fond of Alice in Wonderland. Too creepy and dark.
I am, however, quite fond of this cake, which tastes neither creepy nor dark in spite of its rabbit-hole resemblances.
To close, if you haven't already left this post to bake yourself a giant pink polka dot cake, then permit to say this one last thing, which is that you should come back tomorrow where I will indulge in more pink, except in a far more responsible manner.
Happy Craving!--steph
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!
A large part of my enjoyment at the end of summer is indulging in fruity desserts. Like peach cobbler, for instance.
First I cut up the peaches. Normally I think you're supposed to blanch them to remove the skins, but I like those fuzzy covers, so I keep them on. They're so pretty, and they add extra fiber (ahem...not that I'm selling this as a "healthy" dish...).
Then add the filling ingredients. There's four: flour, sugar, cornstarch and water. Simple and easy--plus don't you love easily distinguishable ingredients? They're much more comforting than "high fructose corn syrup" and "malodextrin." Or at least I think so.
Then I whipped up the cobbler topping. Again, it is flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, egg and milk. It's not rocket science, folks.
Then you cook the peaches until they are bubbling and thick. It smells divine. I then dumped mine into a ceramic casserole dish and...
...spooned the doughy cobbler on top. Then bake for 20 minutes or so at 400 degrees, and Voila! Dessert for a whole weekend!
Doesn't it look pretty, all peachy and warm?
Next comes the ice cream. I'm crazy for the homemade stuff, so I made a batch earlier in the afternoon, and it was nice and frozen by the time the cobbler came out of the oven.
Yet again, the ice cream had four simple ingredients: sugar, whole milk, cream and vanilla. And it's soooo good!
I had a little help with the ice cream.
The final result: warm, sweet cobbler mixed with light (not "light" as in healthy, mind you) ice cream. I think the combination of warm and cold together in one bowl is my all-time favorite.
Needless to say, I've already eaten half the cobbler...
Hope you are enjoying some fruity desserts yourself!
Previous Related Posts:
Crave
How to Eat Your Garden Peas (aka last night's dinner)
Three-Day-Weekend Scones
I couldn't very well dedicate a week of posts to my favorite things without including a few treats. Because I confess that I do have a bit of a sweet tooth.
Alright...maybe more than a "bit."
My favorite of the treats are probably cupcakes, but it's hard to say for sure. They're so cute and scrumptious. And easy to make.
Overall I'd have to say that I prefer baking to cooking. This probably isn't great for the future of my waistline, but I can't hide who I am. There's just something appealing about flour and sugar and eggs all mixed together. Something that I don't find when...say...mixing chicken with rice and veggies.
This fondness for baked sweets runs in my family. My sister is the one who cleverly told me how to make sure my cookies don't go flat (a problem I've been having) and who knows the secrets of making zucchini bread in the croc pot. And then there's my dad, who always did the baking in the family, from birthday cakes to chocolate candy at Christmas.
Sweet tooths--the whole lot of us. 
