THE ULTIMATE IRISH CUPCAKE ~Think Guinness, Baileys & Bushmills!

These cupcakes are unbelievably decadent and utterly amazing!  I started off with a famous chocolate stout cake recipe, which is now my favorite chocolate cake recipe evah!  Next, I took my tried & true Wilton's buttercream icing recipe and added Baileys Irish Cream to it.  Finally, I made a classic bittersweet chocolate ganache and kicked it up a notch with a little Bushmills Irish Whiskey.  The result was quite possibly the most fabulous chocolate bake good I've ever tasted. These may take a little effort, but man, are they ever worth it.

Just take a gander on what looms on the inside of these bad boys....

This recipe yields 12 cupcakes. *I've divided this recipe from a batch that made 24 cupcakes so that is why some of the measurements seem a little atypical. Feel free to double and triple :-)

For the Cupcakes:

1/2 cup Guinness Stout

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 cupcake cups with liners, such as this St. Patrick's Day Cupcake kit by Meri Meri that I purchased at Williams Sonoma.

Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Allow Guinness mixture to cool a little while you 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.

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 until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17-18 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

For the Bailey's Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

1 teaspoon milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer.

Add vanilla.



Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.



Add Baileys and milk. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
Using a large round tip, pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Or, if you don't have cake decorating supplies, pile the frosting on with a spoon and smooth into a dome with a knife.



Refrigerate the cupcakes to get the buttercream cold for dipping in warm chocolate ganache.


For the Bushmill's Ganache:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon Bushmills Irish Whiskey

Combine chopped chocolate, heavy cream and butter in a heat proof bowl and microwave for 20 sec, stir, microwave for another 20 sec, stir, * repeat until chocolate in melted and ganache is smooth*  DO NOT OVERHEAT.  There is no cure for burnt chocolate. Add your 1 tsp. of Bushmills Irish Whiskey and stir.

Remove cold cupcakes from the frig and dip in warm ganache.








Allow ganache to set and decorate :-)

Here's some Irish cheer all boxed up to go to my new neighbors.

*Hint* The wine and liquor superstores, such as BevMo and Wine & More sell the miniature bottles of most liquors. These are great cost savers when you only need a small amount for cooking.

Erin Go Bragh! 
~The Lemonista


French Country Cottage 6 Days of Spring Party

A Vintage Table Given New Life

Since we are a little lacking in furniture to fill up our new home, my generous mother-in-law brought over this family heirloom table to help us furnish the place.  Even though the finish on this table had gotten a little tired, I saw the potential with the table's design and great legs!  The table was made by The Imperial Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan--my home town. Grin.

I started by sanding down the table and cleaning it with a product called Krud Kutter.

Then the table was primed and painted with Restoration Hardware's Blue Sage paint.

The paint needs to dry for a couple of days and then I think I'll antique this table.  It has some really pretty details that would really stand out with some antiquing. (I'll update with photos when it's done).

So the table was free and the paint was $36.  Not bad for a cute new piece of furniture. Just took a little elbow grease. Wink.

~The Lemonista

Our Family Heirloom Lemon Bar Recipe

As many of you may know, the only way to get Grandma LaVallee's amazing lemon bar recipe in the past was with a box of my homegrown lemons. In honor of my lemon tree that sadly could not be moved, I've decided to share the coveted Lemon Bar recipe today. I'm not sure if I'll leave this post up indefinitely, so be sure to print yourself a copy. 

Without further adieu, here is the recipe for the best lemon bars I've ever tasted. 

Grandma LaVallee's Lemon Bars

crust:

1 c. butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and press in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.

Bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

filling:

4 eggs beaten

2 c. sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons Lemon juice

Zest from lemons that you juiced. (yellow part of peel only)

Mix together above ingredients.  Pour over hot crust right after you take it out of the oven and return to oven at 325 degrees for an additional 20 minutes or until filling is set when you jiggle the pan.

Dust with powder sugar. Cool. Cut in squares and serve.

Please enjoy. This one is very special.


~The Lemonista

Accenting With Color

We are moved into the new house. Phew. Let's hope we don't move again for a very long time because that was a ton of work.  As we settle into our new house, I find myself very emotional about the little house we left behind.  It was a great house, in a great neighborhood, and both will be deeply missed.

I've begun decorating the new house, and while this will be a very long process, I thought I'd share one of my first projects today.

My new kitchen had a broom closet door that was left unfinished.  Everyone seems to comment on this door when they pop in to take a peek at the house.  "You gonna paint that door, Erin?" Wink.

I gave the door a lot of thought.  I considered leaving it as is, staining it, pickling it, and finally painting it.  At first I thought I'd paint it white like the rest of the kitchen cabinets, but the kitchen is so neutral in color, that I felt like a punch of color would help tighten up a huge wall and give the eyes something to soak in.

The color is Sea Green by Restoration Hardware in the subtle velvet finish.  I just love how this turned out!

I also added a large Mackenzie Childs Taylor ball knob to match my dishes.

Perfection :-)

Oh, and remember the Civil War picture frame that I got for my husband last Christmas?

Only took me a year and two months, but I finally got around to framing the photo I had in mind.

More home decorating to come but I've got a stack of boxes calling my name first.

~The Lemonista

Chicken Salad with Bacon & Mandarin Oranges

I love this chicken salad.

I love it's savory sweet flavors, 

I love that it's easy to make, 

and I love that is consistently a hit at any gathering I serve it. 

It's a great salad.

Like many great family recipes, it doesn't really have an exact recipe, just more of a make it how you like it kinda preparation.  

To make this salad you will need the following ingredients:

I start by baking ten slices of bacon in the oven at 400 degrees until crisp.  If you prefer to fry your bacon in a skillet--feel free ;-) Set aside to cool.

Remove meat from a whole Costco rotisserie chicken (discarding skin and bones) and place bite size pieces in a large mixing bowl.

Add desired amount of Best Foods Mayo and diced celery.

Add 1/4 tsp Onion Salt, 1/4 tsp White Pepper & 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Crumble reserved bacon in bite size pieces and stir into salad.

Drain Mandarin oranges (I use one can or half of a large plastic container) and VERY gently fold them into the chicken salad.  Be careful not to break up the orange sections.

This salad is excellent served on croissants.  If I'm hosting a party, I serve it on mini croissants.  It also tastes wonderful served up on a buttermilk biscuit. 

So Tasty.

Chicken Salad with Bacon & Mandarin Oranges

1 whole Costco rotisserie chicken, meat removed and broken into bite size pieces.

10 slices bacon, baked or fried crisp, then crumbled into bite size pieces.

Desired amount of good quality mayo, such as Best Foods

Desired amount of diced celery

1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning

1/4 tsp Onion Salt

1/4 tsp White Pepper

1 can or 1/2 large plastic container of Mandarin Oranges, drained. 

Serve on croissants

Bake ten slices of bacon in the oven at 400 degrees until crisp.  If you prefer to fry your bacon in a skillet--feel free ;-) Set aside to cool.

Remove meat from a whole Costco rotisserie chicken (discarding skin and bones) and place bite size pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add desired amount of Best Foods Mayo and diced celery. Add 1/4 tsp Onion Salt, 1/4 tsp White Pepper & 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning. (Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste). Crumble reserved bacon in bite size pieces and stir into salad. Drain Mandarin oranges (I use one can or half of a large plastic container) and VERY gently fold them into the chicken salad.  Be careful not to break up the orange sections. Serve on croissants.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

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Heart Pie Pops

The moment I spotted these Heart Pie Pops in Williams-Sonoma catalog I knew I had to give them a try.


These can be as simple as store bought pie crust dough and ready made pie filling or jam.  Or, you could go all out and make them totally homemade.  I plan to make my own crust but use canned cherry pie filling. Regardless of how you choose to prepare your pie pops, it's not likely anyone will be able to resist sinking their teeth in to one of these beauties. 



While scanning the Internet for ideas on how to make these lovely treats, I discovered the fabulous Bakerella had already thought of this marvelous idea.  The Bakerella posted a fantastic step by step pie pop tutorial that I will defer to now.


I also think it would be fun to use a lollipop wrapping kit to wrap these individually and give as Valentine's Day gifts.  A sweet for your sweetie. 

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista