Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Posted by: Annie

Source Smitten Kitchen via Craving Chronicles

This dessert probably belongs at a St. Patrick's Day celebration - rather than the days following Thanksgiving, however I made them for my best friend's birthday, because as a lover of Bailey's I could not deny her the deliciousness of these cupcakes. Everything about these cupcakes are amazing - from the rich chocolate batter to the Bailey's flavored icing; and for that reason can be made year round!

What you'll need:

For the Cupcakes -
1 cup stout (Guinness) (coffee also works perfectly! I used a fresh cup from Wegmans!)
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Cupcake Ganache Filling:
(You do not have to fill your cupcakes, however I did and it added such a nice flavor to the cake)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 T butter, room temperature
1-2 t Irish whiskey (optional - I left this step out)

*You will need either a 1-inch round cookie cutter, or an apple corer, and a piping bag to insert the ganache filling.

Bailey's Frosting:
3-4 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 T Bailey's (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination)

First, make the cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with 24 liners. Mix 1 cup stout (or coffee) with 1 cup butter in a medium sized saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Next, add cocoa powder to beer mixture and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.

Next, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream with an electric mixer. Next, add the slightly cooled stout/coffee-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat to combine.

Slowly add in the flour mixture, and beat on a slow speed. Use a rubber spatula to fold batter until it is completely mixed. Fill the cupcake liners approximately 2/3-3/4 of the way. Bake 17 minutes, and cool cupcakes on a rack completely. I actually placed my cupcakes on a rack, and placed them in the refrigerator for approximately 15 minutes.

Now, make the ganache filling. Chop the chocolate into small pieces, and place in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to simmer and pour in the chopped chocolate. Allow it to sit for one minute, and stir the mixture until it is smooth. If the chocolate is not completely melted you can place the mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds.

After the mixture is smooth and melted, add butter and whiskey (if you are using it) and stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool until it is thick enough to be piped into the cupcakes.

Now you get to fill the cupcakes!

This was probably my favorite part of making this recipe. I used an apple corer that was slightly bigger than an inch, but it will worked out perfectly. Using an apple corer or a cookie cutter, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. Push the apple corer approximately 2/3 of the way into the cupcake, but make sure to not cut through the bottom. Remove the centers from each cupcake and using a piping bag with a wide tip, fill the holes in each cupcake to the top:


Once the cupcakes are filled, it is time to make the frosting. Whip butter with an electric mixer until it is very light and fluffy; this takes approximately four minutes using a hand mixer. Next, add the powdered sugar very slowly - only a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting appears thick enough to spread, add in the Bailey's and blend until combined.

Frost each cupcake and top with chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Posted by: Maggie

I had the idea to make these cookies after spotting a bag of white chocolate chunks while wandering through Whole Foods last week. A quick google search for an appealing recipe brought me to Just Another Foodie's blog. Between the cranberries, and the red and white colors they are very seasonally appropriate. If they go over well with my coworkers Monday morning I'll certainly make them again before Christmas, because I personally think they're scrumtrulescent.

They're really easy to make; I only halfway paid attention to what I was doing because I was watching You've Got Mail at the same time. It made me miss the old pre-trout lipped Meg Ryan.

Here's what you'll need:



1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips/chunks
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper to prevent cookie bottoms from getting too brown.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl, and gradually stir into sugar mixture. Mix in white chocolate chunks and cranberries.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and bake on prepared baking sheets for 8-10 minutes. (Mine were perfect after 8). Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Mom's Mac & Cheese

Posted by: Maggie

My lovely Mom's Macaroni and Cheese recipe was a favorite of Annie and I growing up, and still is to this day. Annie was particularly fond of it, and asked for it for nearly every birthday dinner until she was probably about 16. If we were at a restaurant she mixed things up a bit and got mozzarella sticks. How she emerged from adolescence skinny is a medical and scientific marvel.
Once you try this recipe you'll never want the boxed stuff again. I cut the recipe in half since it was just for me. I've posted the original recipe below, that could probably serve 2-3 as a main dish, and 5-6 as a side. There should have been a side of broccoli with this, but due to a freak broccoli-steam-bag explosion there are green beans instead. They're really just there to look pretty. Let's face it - this is not a healthy meal and veggies will not change that.

You will need:
1 1/2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 salted butter
1 small onion, chopped (I used yellow)
1/2 t salt (preferably out of a cat shaker with a lazy eye, like mine)
1/4 t pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 c milk (funny story: I googled 1 3/4 divided by 2 mid-cooking. Thanks for the edumacation OTHS math department. I'll go ahead and tell you that it's 3/4 c plus 2 tablespoons so you never have to google such a shameful thing yourself)
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook macaroni per directions on box. Melt butter in pan, and saute onion with salt and pepper. Blend in flour, and cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and cook until mixture is slightly thickened. Add cheese, remove from heat and stir until cheese is melted. Mix cheese sauce and macaroni together, and bake in ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.