Irish Car Bombs

I am not big on drinking alcohol, but cooking with it is another story! And this recipe has 3 different kinds. I think I say that every time I cook with alcohol! I got this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. I was eyeing it for a while and ended up baking them with a friend. The recipe make 24, so we both had plenty to share with our families.


Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes From: Brown Eyed Baker

Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons of butter, softened
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Frosting
2 cups butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

Cupcakes-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cups with cupcake liners. Put Guinness and butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and heat to a simmer. Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk the flour, sugar, soda and salt together. In another large bowl-mix the eggs and sour cream together. Add the Guinness mixture to the eggs and then add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Use a rubber spatula to fold the batter until combined. Put the batter in the liners and bake about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack.
Ganache-chop the chocolate and put it in a heat proof bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer and then pour over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute and stir until smooth. Add in the butter and whiskey. Let cool until thickened but still able to be piped. Use the bottom of a large decorating tip to cut out the centers of the cupcakes about 2/3 of the way down. Pipe the ganache into the holes, level with the top of the cupcake.
Frosting-Whip/beat the butter on medium speed for 5 minutes. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and then the Bailey's. Turn the mixer up higher and whip another 2-3 minutes. Use a decorator's tip to pipe the frosting into a swirl. Use sprinkles immediately after piping. I stored these in the fridge in an airtight container.

Linking up with: Sweets for a Saturday

Lemon Bundt Cake

If you like lemon, then you will love this moist cake. It's from the March 2006 Good Housekeeping magazine. Thanks to Michael Ann at The Big Green Bowl for the heads up on where this recipe came from. I tried to find this on the the magazine's website, but I couldn't get it to come up. I have made it several times now. I would love to make it every week. It is that good!

Lemon Bundt Cake From: Good Housekeeping
3 lemons
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grate 2 tablespoons of lemon peel and squeeze out 3 tablespoons of juice (and another 2 tablespoons for the frosting). Set aside. Mix the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs one at a time on low. Add the vanilla. Separately mix the flour, salt and baking soda together and add to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Fold in the 2 tablespoons of peel and the 3 tablespoons of juice. Bake in a well greased and floured bundt pan for 60-70 minutes. Cool in the pan 15 minutes and then on a rack.

For the frosting. Cream the butter and cream cheese together and slowly add the sugar until smooth. Add in the vanilla and lemon juice, beating on high until fluffy. Frost the cake.

Linking up to: Sweets for a Saturday

Vanilla-Caramel Ice Cream

I made this for a birthday. It was the first time I used eggs to make homemade ice cream and I was scared I would mess it up. It was easy and turned out so creamy.

First I cooked the custard on the stove.

I baked sweetened condensed milk for the caramel. I heard you can boil the cans, but I have also heard horror stories of exploding cans. Since I tend to get easily distracted, I thought I would go the safer route. The recipe comes from the Blue Eyed Bakers blog and they call it Dulce de Leche Ice Cream. That's a little too fancy for me! Ha! This vanilla ice cream would be a great base for all kinds of mix-ins.

Vanilla-Caramel Ice Cream from: Blue-Eyed Bakers
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Pour the condensed milk into a glass pan (I actually used a medal pie pan and it was fine) and cover tightly with foil. Place the pan in a larger pan and fill half way up the smaller pan with boiling water. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, checking water occasionally to make sure there is plenty in there. Allow to cool and whisk until smooth. Store in the fridge until ready to use. This can be softened in the microwave if necessary.

For the custard-In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks through the vanilla together. Pour the milk and cream into a small sauce pan and heat over low until hot but not boiling. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan so it doesn't stick. Slowly stir the hot mixture into the eggs and whisk until smooth. Put the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat until thick and it bubbles around the edges. This will coat the back of the spoon and you will see that it has thickened some. Strain through a fine mesh sieve/strainer. Cover and chill the mixture overnight. Put into your ice cream maker. Mine is a Cuisinart and it takes about 30 minutes to process. Stop the machine and mix in dollops of the caramel mixture. Freeze for a few hours. If you are like us though, it will not get that much time before it is eaten.

Linking up to: Sweets for a Saturday