I find it interesting how in different parts of the country, certain holidays or celebrations are a much bigger deal than in other parts. Observation of St. Patrick’s Day, for example, seemed pretty minimal when I was living in California. Granted, college students used it as a reason to party and drink green beer, but since the university I attended was on the quarter system and so St. Patrick’s Day usually fell during final exams, I never really paid much attention to it, and it never caused enough of a commotion to force me to pay attention to it. Cinco de Mayo, however, was pretty big in LA, which I certainly could not ignore the year I lived next to the unofficial Mexican frat off-campus. Whereas Cinco de Mayo is virtually a non-event in places I’ve lived subsequently (Philadelphia and Ann Arbor), St. Patrick’s Day is much bigger. In Philly, I lived within a block of two different Irish pubs, and on St. Patrick’s Day, they actually blocked off the surrounding streets and there was a free bus going from bar to bar throughout the city. In this picture, you can see the crowd overflowing from the pub in front of and around the building, and there’s even a line of port-a-potties for the party-goers! (What do you want to bet that guy wearing the red shirt by the port-a-potties got pinched a lot that day…?)
Although I most likely won’t be getting up early to go to the local Irish restaurant for a traditional Irish breakfast before going to campus next Monday, I’ve started observing St. Patrick’s Day by making these Baileys Irish cream chocolate cupcakes, as well as by actually reading up a bit about St. Patrick himself! I’m sometimes shocked at how little I know about the origins of various holidays, but learning about them late is better than never. Did you know that St. Patrick was actually born in Scotland? He was captured and made a slave in his teens, which was when he first came to Ireland. Although he escaped a number of years later and was reunited with his family in Britain, he eventually returned to Ireland after being ordained as a bishop. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the day of his death.
All right, this has already been a rather lengthy post, so I’ll cut to the chase! These Irish cream chocolate cupcakes are chocolate cake (with Baileys added into the batter before baking) with a center of Baileys chocolate ganache, topped with cream cheese frosting (and green sprinkles, if you’re feeling festive). They’re simple to make and tasty to eat, so enjoy!
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup hot coffee
- 1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream liqueur
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons Baileys Irish cream
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- green sprinkles (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of a mixer, combine the dry ingredients: sugars, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together beaten eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl, mixing on low until combined, and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Pour the hot coffee and Baileys into the batter and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Line the cups of a cupcake pan with paper liners. Portion the batter in the cups, filling no more than three-quarters full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing cupcakes from the pan, and then let cool completely on a wire rack.
- In a medium saucepan, heat cream until it simmers. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until all the chocolate is melted and has been fully incorporated. Whisk in Baileys and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- In the meantime, cut conical pieces of cake out of the top of each cupcake with a sharp knife. The hollows should be large enough to fit 1-2 teaspoons of ganache. Alternatively, you can use a cupcake-corer if you have one.
- Once the ganache has cooled slightly, spoon or pipe into the hollows in the tops of the cupcakes. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes before frosting (you may want to refrigerate them longer if you are going to be spreading the frosting rather than piping it, so that the ganache does not smear into the frosting).
- Mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix on a low speed until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.
- Spread or pipe frosting onto cupcakes and top with green sprinkles (if desired).
- Don’t throw away the pieces of the cupcakes you cut out – save them and mix together with any extra ganache you have left over for a delicious cake-y pudding dessert!
These sounds marvelous!
Thanks – they were fun to design and to make (and to eat, of course)!
Oh man those look beautiful!
What can I say – they’re very photogenic cupcakes! They (nearly) did the work of taking photos for me!
Ermagawd these look fantastic! I love that centre of Baileys chocolate ganache. Very interesting about St. Patrick. I had no idea about his history so thanks for the education 😉
Haha, thanks! The Baileys chocolate ganache is definitely my favorite part – I always end up saving it for the last few bites!
oh wow these look amazing!
Thanks!!
wowzas these are beautiful! love the touch the green sugar adds on top – Pinning!
Thanks so much – I’m glad these cupcakes caught your eye!
I love the Bailey’s in here – yum! And who can resist a chocolate cupcake?! These look delicious, and so perfect for St. Patty’s Day!
Thanks!! Your rhetorical question about who can resist a chocolate cupcake immediately reminded me of Men Without Hats “Safety Dance” – although “and if they don’t eat cake, well they’re no friends of mine” doesn’t quite have the same catchy rhythm…that’s more or less how I feel!
These cupcakes look beautiful and it sounds delicious! Pinned it 🙂
Thanks, and thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the cupcakes if you make them 🙂
One of my favorite chocolate cupcake recipes. Adding ganache is a bit decadent for my taste but I add 3 tbsp to the frosting as written and it’s amazing!
I’m so glad you were able to adapt the recipe to your liking! Thanks so much for stopping by, Sonali 🙂