Irish Chocolate Frosting Food

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH BAILEY'S CREME FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
• Whisk together 2 1/2 cups flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed.
• Beat in white sugar, 2/3 cup butter, water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and eggs to make a smooth batter.
• Place chocolate chips into a bowl and mix with 2 tablespoons flour until the chips are coated; fold chocolate chips into the batter.
• Divide batter between the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
• While cupcakes are cooling, beat 1 cup butter, Irish cream liqueur, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and green food coloring with an electric mixer in a large bowl until mixture is smooth, thick, and evenly colored.
• Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, until frosting is desired consistency. Beat in more confectioners' sugar to make a stiffer frosting.
• Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKE WITH IRISH CREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• For the chocolate stout cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with the room temperature butter, then line it with parchment paper.
• Whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Combine the stout, melted butter, vanilla extract and vinegar in a separate large bowl and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• For the Irish cream frosting: Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix on low speed until smooth and combined. Add 1 tablespoon of the Irish cream liqueur and mix until smooth and spreadable, 2 to 3 minutes. You can add another tablespoon of liqueur if needed to get the right consistency--it should be smooth but still thick enough to spread.
• Remove the cake from the pan and spread the frosting on top. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the chocolate over the top. Serve.

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS® CUPCAKES WITH IRISH CREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 mini-muffin tins or line cups with paper liners; this recipe makes about 66 mini cupcakes.
• Melt 1 1/4 cups butter in a saucepan over low heat, add cocoa powder, and whisk until smooth. Stir in beer and vanilla extract. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and sift into in a large bowl. Mix in sugar. Add beer mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, stirring until well incorporated. Spoon batter into the prepared mini-muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 10 to 11 minutes. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool, about 20 minutes.
• Beat 1 1/2 cups butter and confectioners' sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer. Add Irish cream liqueur, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until light, fluffy, and white in color, about 10 minutes. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

THREE-LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH IRISH COFFEE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then spray with baking spray. Place a large aluminum mixing bowl in the freezer.
• Place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Whisk hot coffee and cocoa together in a separate bowl until smooth; stir in buttermilk.
• Cream brown sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Mix in cooled chocolate. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with buttermilk mixture, beating batter briefly after each addition. Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack and remove parchment paper. Let cool, about 30 minutes.
• Flip cakes over and trim the top of each one to make it flat. Drizzle 1/4 cup cream liqueur over each cake and allow to soak in while you make the frosting.
• Remove aluminum bowl from the freezer; add heavy cream and instant coffee granules. Beat with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks start to form. Add powdered sugar and whisk until medium peaks form. Add pudding mix gradually on low speed. Fold in cream liqueur. Taste and adjust with more powdered sugar, if needed.
• Place one cake on a serving plate, top with 1/3 of the fudge sauce, and spread a generous layer of coffee frosting on top; repeat with the second layer. Add the remaining cake and top with remaining fudge sauce. Crumb-coat the sides of the cake lightly with frosting.
• Fit a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and fill with frosting. Pipe 1 vertical line of dots from the bottom to the top edge of the cake. Place a spoon over the center of each dot and drag to create a petal effect, wiping the spoon clean after each swipe. Pipe another line of dots in the tails of the previous petals and repeat dragging motion. Continue to pipe dots and create petals around the entire cake, finishing with a line of dots.

GUINNESS® CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH IRISH CREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
• Pour stout beer into a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 cup sliced butter; heat until butter is melted, about 5 minutes. Whisk in white sugar and cocoa powder until dissolved. Remove from heat.
• Mix sour cream, eggs, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract together in a bowl. Stir into beer mixture. Whisk flour and baking soda into the beer mixture until batter is smooth; pour into the greased pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake; cool to room temperature on a wire rack, about 30 minutes. Remove ring and transfer cake to a serving platter.
• Beat 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese together in a bowl. Add vanilla extract. Mix in confectioners' slowly until icing is smooth. Add Irish cream liqueur 1 tablespoon at a time to thin frosting to a spreading consistency. Spread frosting over cooled cake.

CHOCOLATE STOUT AND IRISH CREAM LIQUEUR CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cupcake or muffin pan with 24 regular-size cupcake liners.
• Place the stout and butter in a medium-size saucepan and whisk together on medium heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat. Sift the cocoa powder into a medium-size bowl and add the sugar. Slowly whisk into the stout mixture. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and lightly whisk until smooth. Add this mixture to the saucepan and whisk thoroughly (it may appear lumpy). Sift the flour and baking soda together in another small bowl and then add it to the saucepan, mixing a final time until the color is even.
• Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with batter and bake until the cakes spring back after touching, about 27 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in their pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• To assemble: Pipe the frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a large plain tip. Dust with cocoa powder if preferred.
• Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until pale. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the Irish liqueur in a steady stream. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and continue beating until a creamy consistency is achieved.

IRISH CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Grease and line 8-inch cake tins.
• Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Melt chocolate in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, then beat in the chocolate and mashed potato.
• Gradually beat in the egg, adding a little flour with each addition.
• Fold in the rest of the flour and stir in the milk.
• Divide mixture between cake tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is firm but springy to the touch.
• Remove from oven and after a few minutes, turn out on a cooling rack.
• While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Melt the chocolate as before, stir in the other ingredients and mix well.
• Use the icing to sandwich the cake layers together and coat the top and sides of the cake.
• HINT: What makes this rich chocolate cake "Irish" is not only to the creamy liqueur used in the filling, but also a particularly "Irish" ingredient in the cake mixture itself, which makes it extremely moist. Have you guessed it yet? Yes, it's the potato! Mystery solved! Bet you were wondering what potatoes were doing in a cake recipe! Even Irish dessert recipes make use of this abundant Irish crop!

BAILEY'S IRISH CREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, blend together cream cheese, butter, and Bailey's. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing well until it's all incorporated. Use immediately. The frosting will harden in the fridge, so plan on bring it back to room temperature if you must refrigerate it before frosting the cupcakes.