Irish Cream Cupcakes

Oh how I love Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur. So when I came across a recipe for Irish Cream Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting, I was hooked!

The recipe was simple. Despite having nearly a cup of liqueur in batter, you can barely taste the Bailey’s (maybe that’s good, maybe that’s bad – depends on who you ask). After tasting today, a friend had the suggestion of brushing the tops of each with liqueur, allowing it to soak in and dry before frosting. Brilliant!

My favorite part (and seemingly everyone’s) was the frosting. To. Die. For. I was a little heavy handed with both the liqueur and vanilla (ummm, why not?), so a little more sugar could’ve been added for a thicker consistency. But no one seemed to care. Let’s just say I was happy to savor the leftovers.

To decorate, I followed right along with the tips from Recipe Girl. I used a Wilton tip similar enough to the one she suggests, and made 6 stars around the edge and one in the middle. I topped them off with green sugar. Absolutely perfect! Hope you all try them, too.

Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Cupcakes

3/4 c. mini chocolate chips
1/2 T. cake flour
2-3/4 c. cake flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. cream cheese, at room temperature
10 T. butter, at room temperature
1 c. granulated white sugar
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 t. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 c. Irish Cream Liqueur (Bailey’s)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with 24 cupcake liners.

In a small bowl, toss together chocolate chips and 1/2 Tablespoon flour.

Sift together dry ingredients- flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, use electric mixer to combine cream cheese and butter. Add sugars and vanilla; beat until blended. Add eggs and beat until incorporated. With mixer on low, add flour mixture and liqueur alternately to the wet mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Gently stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them almost to the top (they shouldn’t rise much). I like to use an ice cream scoop to get the batter neatly into the liners. Bake cupcakes 18 to 22 minutes, or until centers of cupcakes are set.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

1 c. butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3 c, powdered sugar
4 T. Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
2 t. vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Use electric mixer to blend together; mix until smooth and creamy.

Yield: Enough icing for one cake or 24 cupcakes

New House! (Just not mine)

I wish it was mine. And no, I’m not bitter at all. Not one bit.

My sister and her husband purchased their first home last week, so driving down to Miami to help out was never a question (even though I dread the 4 hour drive through seemingly nowhere).

When we arrived at their new home, I was so excited for them! It is absolutely adorable: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, open kitchen with glass cabinets, beautifully refinished oak floors, charming inset bookshelves and archways, and 2 sets of French doors opening to a large deck overlooking the perfect backyard for entertaining. Like I said, there’s no jealously on my end at all.

Before I say much more, I need to throw out a disclaimer that all photos posted here are BEFORE painting and adding little upgrades here & there.

During the settling in, I definitely pulled my weight. We painted the walls, floorboards, crown molding and door frames in the living room, dining room and one bedroom, and parts of a hallway, the kitchen and the bonus room. That might not sound like that much, but these are old plaster walls that just sucked up the paint. (Yes, we realize now we should have used primer first.)

I won’t complain, though. The weather was perfect. We turned off the A/C, opened every window and door, and enjoyed the constant cross breeze. On Saturday, my brother-in-law hosted his first cook-out in the backyard (even though it was just us five), and on Sunday we enjoyed our Easter lunch on the deck.

While they definitely have a lot of work ahead of them (including the dreaded furniture move), I’m one proud big sis. This was a huge decision for them both, and I honestly believe this home fits them perfectly.

And seriously, who am I kidding? I’m 100% envious of them! At least I can visit more often now and even bring a friend or two. If we can handle the drive. (ha)

Pinterest

Thanks to my lovely co-worker LT, I’m absolutely obsessed with a little website called Pinterest.

I constantly surf the Internet (pretty much part of my job) and always wish I had bookmarked or printed various things I find. Now, with the help of the fine creators of Pinterest, I can “pin” photos from interesting articles, recipes, etc. that I find online to my personal account – from which I can always find them again. Such a brilliant concept!

What’s great is that you can also surf the Pinterest homepage and scour through great finds from other members. I have found countless recipes (including the strawberry cupcakes featured in #27 on April 12), fabulous fashion, interesting ideas for the home, and many other great tidbits.

On your personal page, you can create various boards for topics of interest. For example, I have boards for:

Photography (Captured)
Recipes (Delicious)
Anything related to books (All About Books)
Fashion (Wearable)
Places I want to visit (Exploration)

There are more boards, but that’s a good snapshot for you. ;)

What am I getting at? Well… its simple. That YOU need to request an invite to Pinterest for yourself. Its still a private community, but if you put in a request, you get accepted within about a week. So…why are you still reading this? Get pinning!

Easter Treats

For this week’s office treat, I decided to bake an Easter themed cupcake. I found a great little design/recipe by Jodee Brooks, a food columnist in Avon Park, Ohio. Credit for this recipe goes 100% to her. View the original posting here.

Taste tester verdict: The best cupcakes yet! Mission accomplished.

Yellow Cake

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ¾ c. all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 ¾ c. milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Mix well. Fill 24 muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cupcakes test done in center. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. milk

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl until thoroughly incorporated.

Decorations

Coconut
Green food coloring
Mini Cadbury eggs

In a small bowl, hand mix together coconut and food coloring until desired green is reached. Frost each cupcake with cream cheese frosting, top with a “nest” of coconut, and top with 3 differently colored Cadbury eggs.

Orlando’s Corporate 5K

Sorry about the delay since my last post, but its been a busy couple days. On Thursday, I took part in Orlando’s Corporate 5K presented by IOA. While I’ve taken part in two other races this year (go me!), this was my first time at this particular event. And it sure is a popular one! More than 14,000 people came out to run or walk. It was absolute craziness!

The route is one of my favorites. The course wound through beautiful downtown Orlando. For those familiar with the city, it started on the southeast corner of Lake Eola, followed Central Blvd east to Bumby Ave, went north to Robinson Street and then west all the way along the north side of Lake Eola to Rosalind Ave, and then south to Central Blvd for the finish.

My team was comprised of my relatively new co-workers at Acropolis, my favorite little ad agency in town. We decided to go the humorous route with our t-shirts this year. Four of us signed up as runners (how did I end up as one of those??), while the rest participated as walkers. My goal, however sad this might sound, was just to clock in under 40 minutes. I know, I know. Really? Under 40 minutes? Well, I’m not a runner and will never claim to be. So just the thought of not walking half of this 5K is daunting to me.

One of my co-workers who runs often decided to stay back with me (thanks SF!), while the other two ran ahead. I was shocked that I was able to make it about 1.5 miles before stopping for my first brief walk (although I was jogging slow the whole time). We only stopped one more time for a short bit, before making the turn onto Rosalind Ave and picking up speed for the finish.

And get this… we just made my goal, clocking in 39 minutes (I luckily remembered to check my watch when we crossed the starting line). I was super proud of myself!

Photo of runners by Chris and Tina Otto.

Strawberry Frosted Cupcakes

I’m really not trying to become a cupcake addict, but I do want to get better at baking. So I’ve taken another stab at a recipe I discovered online. This week’s treat: vanilla bean cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting. Yum!

I found the recipe on Sophistimom, a wonderful blog dedicated to creating a great family life, and one which has focused on original recipes in recent months. The recipe below is literally copied & pasted from the blog, so all credit goes to Jaime Mormann (photo below is hers as well – much better than mine!).

My guinea pig co-workers loved them! The cake especially came out fantastic. I’ll definitely use this recipe again in the future. Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 c. sour cream
3/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Seeds scraped from one vanilla bean (these can be left out)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients in a mixer, or a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Fill cupcake liners slightly more then halfway full.

2. Bake for 15 minutes, or until center cupcakes bounce back when touched. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Frost with strawberry buttercream.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

3 large strawberries at room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3-4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. heavy cream

In a food processor, pulse strawberries until pureed. In the same food processor, or in a mixer, combine with butter and vanilla, and about 2 cups of the sugar. Pulse/mix until well combined. Incorporate cream. Add in small amounts of powdered sugar, pulsing/mixing after each addition, to reach the desired consistency. Frosting should be smooth and soft, yet hold its shape.

Turkish Cuisine

In the spirit of my culinary exploration, my friends & I dined at Bosphorous in Winter Park this weekend. I’ve been to Bosphorous before, but only to sit at one of the outdoor tables and try some tobacco (shisha) on the hookah. (And yes, we went the girlie route and choose the chocolate flavor.)

The time, there was no hookah involved, but instead a real dinner. Considering Bosphorous is a Turkish restaurant, I immediately steered myself towards the lamb section of the menu. After going back and forth between a couple items, I finally decided on Grilled Lamb Adana Kebab (freshly ground lamb flavored with red bell peppers & light hot peppers, then char-grilled) accompanied by a Turkish pilsner, of course.

It was delicious! And so was my friend’s Doner Kebab (tender lamb, thinly sliced and grilled vertically). I didn’t get a chance to try my other friend’s Lamb Kofke (ground lamb and veal blended with garlic & chef’s seasoning, then char-grilled), but I heard it was great too.

While I might be one of the last long-time Orlando residents to eat at Bosphorous – I do highly recommend it to anyone who has yet to try it!

Tiffany’s Laurelton Hall

After reading Clara and Mr. Tiffany, it was only a matter of time before I made a visit to Winter Park’s Morse Museum.

The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art is home to one of the largest collections of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s works – including leaded glass windows and lamps, art jewelry, pottery, and the chapel interior he designed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (which was actually installed in an outbuilding at Laurelton Hall in 1916).

I’ve been to the Morse Museum once before, but not been since it opened the new Tiffany Wing on February 19th. The 6,000-square-foot space focuses on recreating rooms of Tiffany’s Long Island estate – Laurelton Hall. I felt as if I was seeing the museum through new eyes since so many of the pieces discussed at great length in the novel are on display.

Jeannette McKean (the museum’s founder) and her husband Hugh McKean (museum’s director until his death), rescued objects from Laurelton Hall after a devastating fire in 1957. Thanks to their collecting, the 10 galleries of the new Tiffany Wing include a restored Daffodil Terrace and 250 art and architectural objects from or related to the estate.

Overall, the new wing is a fascinating addition to an already superb museum. Its particularly interesting to get up close to the leaded glass windows to see the distinctively colored glass that was created by Tiffany’s workers and meticulously placed with such a keen sense of light and color. I highly recommend a visit if you have any interest in art or have read Clara and Mr. Tiffany.

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Orlando area residents: Lucky you! The Morse Museum is offering free admission every Friday night (4pm to 8pm) through the end of April. Can’t make it on a Friday night? The museum is also free all Easter weekend.

Pop of Chic

Check it out! I’ve added another piece of jewelry to my tiny collection. This time, I was lucky enough to win this stylish piece from one of my favorite blogs, Work Your Closet.

A couple weeks ago, Jamie offered up a chance to win a beautiful gold braided (and reversible) bracelet from online jewelry boutique Pop of Chic.

Entry was simple, just fan their pages on Facebook, follow Work Your Closet on Bloglovin’, and comment on the post. Simple enough.

Never thought I’d win, but low and behold, I did! I received my new bracelet tonight, and love it! And the fact that its reversible is an awesome bonus.

Pop of Chic (website launching soon) has a great selection of distinctive bracelets, rings and earrings, at an affordable price. My bracelet is very well made – right on par with something you’d spend double as much on at a store. Be sure to fan Pop of Chic’s Facebook fan page to stay up-to-date on all the new pieces.

Be sure to follow Work Your Closet, too! Jamie’s blog is a great way to learn how to take items you may be bored with in your closet, and turn them into today’s latest styles. And since we’re all on a budget these days, tips like these are always good to know. Plus, she typically features a great giveaway each month. Until April 21, you can enter to win a $150 gift card for Perricone MD skin care products!

Orange Twist on Cupcakes

Decided to take a stab at another cupcake recipe. This time, I found one for Orange Cupcakes with Orange Frosting. I thought they sounded like another “light” treat that I could take a work – and maybe not make everyone feel so guilty for eating them. (Although, they’re no healthier than any chocolate cupcake… still crammed with sugar).

I found the recipes – ingeniously enough – on CupcakeRecipes.com. I’m not an experienced enough baker to make tweaks before ever testing a recipe – but I think I would make some to these in the future. The cake itself turned out pretty dry. And with something as fresh as oranges in the name, I was expecting something a lot different.

Nevertheless, I finished these off with a little mandarin orange on top. We’ll have to wait and see what the co-workers think… but I’m guessing their verdict will be the same as mine!

Orange Cupcakes

1 3/4 c. cake flour (1 c. cake flour = 3/4 c. all purpose flour + 2 tbsp. cornstarch)
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, separated and whites beaten until stiff
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. orange juice
1 stick of butter, softened

Combine butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Cream together thoroughly.

Mix flour, salt and baking powder together in a separate mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients 1/3 at a time, alternating with adding portions of the O.J. to the creamed mixture.

Fold in beaten egg whites. Spoon batter into cupcake liners until half full.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.