Irish Coffee Cupcakes

I hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patricks Day.  I made some really yummy dishes.  Two of them are certainly blog-worthy.  This is the dessert I served and if you love the flavor of coffee you can enjoy this cupcake year round.  The only thing I did differently was I added some homemade chocolate buttercream around the top of the cupcake and put the whipped cream topping in the middle.  I thought the chocolate addition would be a tasty added treat.

 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons good Irish Whiskey (I used Bushmills)
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder – use divided
½ cup white rice flour (preferably finely milled)
¼ cup sweet rice flour (preferably finely milled)
¼ cup potato starch (not potato flour)
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup ½ half and half, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons confectioners sugar (add more to taste if needed)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a small saucepan, stir together the granulated sugar and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Take off the heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon of instant espresso powder. Stir in the whiskey and let cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the white rice flour, sweet rice flour, potato and tapioca starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until fluffy, 2 – 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add half the flour mixture, then the half and half and finally the rest of the flour mixture. Blend until almost all the flour is mixed in. Add the vanilla and mix. With a large spatula, finish mixing the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then spoon coffee whiskey mixture over cupcakes.  Let cool completely for 30 minutes and then whip cream with 2 tsp of sugar to swirl on top.

 

**This is the chocolate buttercream recipe I used from Savory Sweet Life**

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!)
• 3½ cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.