Wednesday, March 21, 2012

St Patrick's Day Recap

Hi there - its me, Grace. I am still alive. And I won't go saying "I will be posting more regularly", because obviously that's not working. I have this huge backlog of things to share, I just don't seem to get the time to type them up. Being a working mom is time consuming (and exhausting)!

But anyway, I found a couple minutes to recap my St. Patrick's Day (even if it was days ago). First up: my usual holiday themed printable:

It's another one from the ladies at Eighteen25. A quick trip out of the printer and popped into a frame and here it is:





Next up, we had a St. Patrick's Day Party to go to, so I scoured Pinterest and found some cute options. I wanted to try these Bailey's Irish Cream Cookies, but I don't have a shamrock cookie cutter. So I settled on these:



The original pin came from Nook & Pantry - a site I will have to add to my google reader - lots of good stuff in there! Anyway, here's how mine came out:

Mixing up the batter

All baked up - they came out a little flat!

Knowing that there would be kids at the party, once I made the frosting I pulled out half before adding the Baileys. I colored this half green, so the kid's version would be easy to spot. I realize that the couple tablespoons of Bailey's would probably be fine, but I wasn't sure kids would like the taste.

The yummy adult frosting




Final product!

The Verdict on the Cupcakes: I thought they were delicious! I usually don't like how my cupcakes or cakes come out when I make them from scratch (I think I have the tendency to overmix, creating lead sinkers), but these came out great. I guess maybe the beer helps them stay light. They did come out a bit flat, but that didn't really bother me. I was told they were even great for breakfast the next day - hair of the dog?

Things to Consider: The original recipe says to make sure you bake them right away, so the beer still has some fizz. I did this and like I said above, I think that helps keep them light. I think I could have filled them a little less and gotten a couple more cupcakes (I think they might have risen a bit more), but I didn't have another pan or space in my oven.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
From Nook & Pantry2 C unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 C Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light or dark brown sugar
4 oz./1/2 C unsalted softened butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg
1/2 C sour cream
1 12 fl. oz. bottle/1 1/2 C Guinness or stout beer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter or line with paper cups 2 12 count muffin tins.

In a large bowl briefly whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add one egg and beat until evenly mixed and fluffy, make sure to scrape down the mixer bowl once in a while. Add the second egg and vanilla extract and beat again until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and beat in, then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the Guinness.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and slowly stir the batter until it is evenly mixed and there are no streaks of flour. Make sure to stop the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides and make sure to mix up any flour pockets hidden on the bottom of the bowl.

Divide 1/4 C of batter into each muffin cup, you’ll get about 20 – 24 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 degrees F on the middle rack for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake in the middle of the pan should come out clean. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Set on a rack to cool to room temperature before frosting.

For layer cakes: baking 25 – 30 minutes, rotate the pans around halfway, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes should come out clean.

Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
1 4oz. stick of unsalted butter, softened
2 C confectioner’s sugar
4 – 6 Tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, add the cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the Bailey’s, more or less depending on how boozey you want the frosting, and beat until completely incorporated into the frosting.



Lastly, on Sunday, I tried making corned beef for the first time. I have a love/hate relationship with it. It is sometimes slimy and too fatty, and I don't like it, but if cooked just right, I love it. I pinned this recipe:


from Food Network and gave it a whirl. I didn't take any pics, but it came out pretty good. Joe loved it and I loved the non-fatty parts. The potatoes and veggies were super flavorful too. I will definitely use the same recipe next year.

So there's my recap on all things St. Patrick's Day in our house. Hopefully I get a couple more minutes this week to type up some more posts. I have a project from JJ's room that I can't wait to share!



1 comment:

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