Bombs of the Irish Car Version

In cupcake form.

These. Are. Amazing.

So much so that I give most of them away just so I don't gain my pregnancy weight back from eating all 2 dozen of them with a gallon of milk at my side. (That may or may not have happened in the past.)

Makes 24 cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:

12 oz. bottle of Guinness, extra stout

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1.5 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temp

2/3 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. (FYI: I add a little bit of the chocolate mixture then mix before adding the rest to temper the eggs just in case the chocolate mixture is still a bit too warm.) Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake for about 17 minutes or until the cupcakes are set to the touch. Cool the cupcakes completely before filling & frosting.

For the ganache filling:
1.25 c bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temp
3. Pour the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.
4. Using the bottom of a large decorating tip, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag with a wide tip (or a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off works just fine) and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

For the Bailey's frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

5. Using the whisk attachment of an electric hand mixer, whip the butter on med-hi for a few minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all the sugar is incorporated. Even though it takes a while, it's really important to add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time. If you add too much too quickly, your frosting will be grainy and you'll need A LOT more sugar to get your frosting to thicken up. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin, beat in 1 or 2 more spoonfuls of powdered sugar.
6. Using your favorite decorating tip or a spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate however your heart desires. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container.

Note: The recipe above gave me enough frosting to decorate my cupcakes with those small starbursts you see in the pictures but if you want to frost them with super high swirls, you'll probably want to double it. I also had a bunch of ganache leftover so I used it to add more tiny starbursts. Wasting food, especially chocolate, is a mortal sin in my house.

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Smitten Kitchen.

Look Who's Talking

  

"You'll never guess what comes after 3...
4! I know, crazy right?"





"Take a whiff of my new aftershave."



"What the heck just happened?"

"Listen bro, I love you and all but don't do that again. You almost messed up my 'do."



"It ain't easy lookin' this good."





"Oh yea? Well then GET OFF MY BUMBO!!!"



 And in matters of a pinch more importance than make-believe banter between a toddler and a 2 month old, articles like this one is one of the many reasons why I'm a huge fan of Jenn.

Have a stupendous weekend erryone!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made a few small tweaks to make this recipe a little more post-partum-weight-loss-obsession-friendly. Now I can't attest to whether my version is as tasty since I've never made the muffins following the original recipe but my doctored muffin definitely satisfies all 32 of my sweet teeth for about 65 calories less (and I prefer dark chocolate to milk any day). Hey, I said a little more figure friendly. I'm not a miracle worker. Unless someone invents a no-calorie but still comparably tasty substitute for flour and butter this is probably the best you're going to get.

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbl plus 2 tsp Splenda brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Splenda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted then cooled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup 2% milk
• 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Just follow the original recipe using the above ingredients....or just scroll down if you're too lazy to click over.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt until there are no more brown sugar clumps and everything is evenly distributed.
2. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla until well combined.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well.
4. Stir until the ingredients just come together but don't overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Evenly divide the batter into 12 lined muffin cups then bake at 400 degrees F for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before eating no matter how tempted you are to devour right away or half your muffin will stay stuck to the paper liner.

Oh Happy Day

 

1. Excited aunt. Even more excited infant.
2. Three generations of Asian persuasion.
3. Let's play Button, Button, Who's Got the Camera Remote Button?
4. My church is better than yours because we get donuts for communion.

Our Sweet P got baptized this past Sunday. If our church looks like an elementary school cafeteria...that's because it is. It's actually a multi-purpose room and it's temporary while our church gets built. Not sure why I felt the need to explain that. I guess I didn't want anyone to think we worshipped hairnet wearing lunch ladies. Although I do remember the cafeteria pizza from my school days being heavenly delicious, plastic-y cheese and all.

Morning Shenanigans

Playing innocent when I caught her playing with her brother's "missing" dinosaurs.




 

She was enjoying my rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" until...








I sneezed.



Photo shoot OVER.