Chocolate stout cupcakes and chocolate Bailey's mousse

Happy St. Patty's.

I finally gave in and purchased a Kitchenaid, many thanks to an amazing team of friends and family that have kept a lookout for me for deals and rebates over the last ten years...  Found a deal to good to pass on and am now part of the Kitchenaid family of bakers.  I was reluctant to give up old fashioned stirring and whisking (n.b. I received my first whisk in my twenties, as part of a birthday gift and until then, had predominantly used forks and chopsticks).  But I'd be hard pressed to say I miss trying to beat heavy cream or eggs by hand.  It's amazing how within a day, I can be a total convert to the K.

For my first experiment, I tried making Bailey's Irish Cream mousse.  The recipe originates from Epicurious.  I do love the mousse.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Irish-Cream-Chocolate-Mousse-Cake-103235

Mousse

• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
• 1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

Whisk eggs and sugar in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water) and whisk constantly until candy thermometer registers 60°F, about 5 minutes. (I transferred everything to the kitchenaid)

Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until cool and very thick, about 10 minutes. (After using the kitchenaid, I transferred this back to a different bowl...washed out the kitchenaid bowl so I could do the cream part in it as well)

Place chocolate in top of another bowl over simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Cool to lukewarm. (I cheated and did the chocolate part in the microwave.)

Combine cream and Irish cream liqueur in medium bowl; beat to stiff peaks. Pour lukewarm melted chocolate over egg mixture and fold together. Fold in cream mixture. Cover and chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
I tried pairing the mousse with a chocolate stout cupcake.  I'm accustomed to alcoholic baked goods no longer tasting all that alcoholic and thought this would be a good cupcake for St. Patty's.  Of course, I forgot that I actually don't love stout.  And as luck would have it, the cupcake does taste very stout like--much more stout than chocolate.  So if you love stout, this would be the perfect cupcake.  Definite recipe keeper if this is your thing.  If not, the mousse would probably have gone better with a yellow cake or devils' chocolate cupcake, as the stout overshadows the mousse a bit.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Irish stout (recommended: Guinness) I used Guinness

4 ounces unsalted butter

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (I used 1 t baking powder, 1.5 baking soda)

Procedure

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.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-stout-and-irish-cream-liqueur-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

Bake sale to raise funds for the AIDS Walk / AIDS Action Committee!!

If you want to donate... it's never too late!  So... I might have had a bit too much fun with making my 5 inch chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies... the ocean waves: The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie and Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

 I also finally bought a pastry bag and tried frosting flowers for the first time!  ...gotta work on it but I'm pretty excited!

go to my website to donate! aac.org/goto/ohsin

Another beet red velvet cake recipe

Johnny Iuzzini's Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

This Recipe Appears In:

Elizabeth Falkner vs. Johnny Iuzzini Cupcake Battle

This is very lightly adapted from pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini's Scharffen Berger recipe.

This cake turns out deliciously chocolatey and moist, with the beets imparting a subtle, earthy undertone. As Iuzzini put it, "It doesn't taste like beets; but if the beet puree wasn't there, you'd miss it." To make the beet puree, quarter the beets—four large ones will be more than enough—and boil them until tender and the skin slips off easily, about 20 minutes (depending on the size). Puree with a standard or stick blender, and strain to get the big chunks out.

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup plus 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 vanilla beans, scraped, seeds only (or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)
• 1 cup beet puree

Chocolate cupcakes

I went to a fundraiser for the Trevor Project that was held at Rocca. They had the most delicious fried spicy peppers that were lightly battered and salted. Mental note to try them at home some day... They reminded me slightly of the fried red chili peppers we had in Schezuan back in 2001...except, they were not intended to be an entree on their own.

They also had delightful chocolate cupcakes that reminded me of the ones that Kelly and I once made to celebrate James and Oliver's tenth anniversary. Since it was a save-worthy recipe but I still seem to spend hours re-searching epicurious every time I need it, I am recopying it here with a few modifications.  Credit goes to Ginny for finding the cupcake recipe and to Kelly for the frosting recipe...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Devils-Food-Cake-with-Brown-Sugar-Buttercream-104574

1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake holders.

Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla. 3Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.
Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter may look curdled).

Bake ~ 20 minutes

Frosting:

2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
9 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk