Chocolate & Alcohol: Collaboration = Inspiration

With Halloween only a few short weeks away, it is impossible not to notice the impending holiday season. When I think of the holidays, two things come to mind: delicious food and delicious drinks! Be it Halloween candy, Thanksgiving Pie, Hanukkah Latke's & wine, or Christmas cookies & Eggnog...everyone partakes in the holiday festivities & cheer. Really, what could be better?

Here in my office in Boston, as the holidays approach, so too seems the birthday season. And with this, of course, comes a constant flow of birthday treats! Many of my coworkers have shown quite a bit of inspiration lately when it comes to the treats they've come up with.

Today I'd like to highlight those who have combined two of our favorite holiday treats: sweets & alcohol! I have two awesome recipes from coworkers to share with you, and a note to check out my blog in the coming months as I have the BEST chocolate alcohol recipe to satisfy any 21+ sweet tooth!

**When cooking & baking with alcohol, the end product may still have some alcoholic properties left (it does not all bake off). Remember this when choosing the recipients of your delicious confections!

Recipe #1: Guinness Cupcakes

This recipe comes from my friend Jon of the Food Fight Blog

For the Cake:

1 12 oz bottle Guinness stout
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for garnish
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

For the Frosting (or you can just add Guinness to store-bought as Jon did):
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar

The instructions for these cupcakes are the same as any typical cupcake: combine all dry ingredients & wet ingredients separately. Mix all together. Place into lined muffins pans & bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center of a few cupcakes.

Combine all ingredients for icing & refrigerate until the icing is a workable consistency. Spread across cooled cupcakes & enjoy!

Recipe #2: Car Bomb Cupcakes

This recipe was made by my coworker & friend Melissa (found at delighful-delicacy.blogspot.com)

Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness

1 stick, plus 1 tbs unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tbs vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350; line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine the Guinness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter.

Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar.

In a bowl, whisk the sour cream and the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture.

Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold in the batter.

Pour into muffin molds and bake or 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes, remove from muffin tin, and cool completely on a rack.

Frosting:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups confectioners' sugar

Bailey's Irish Cream

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Put the stick of room-temperature butter in a large mixing bowl and bet at medium-to0high speed for a few minutes.

Add a few short glugs of Bailey's and a tiny bit of Jameson, and mix at low speed.

Gradually spoon confectioners' sugar into the bowl, mixing on low speed.

And finally, my favorite chocolate/alcohol combination recipe that I've made countless times to the delight of my friends & family: Chocolate Rum Cake. It's a delicious combination of chocolate & rum; perfectly moist cake & glaze. I'm not going to include it here as I will be making it in the near future & creating a separate blog for it. However, if you have to know now, leave me a comment & I'll be happy to shoot it over to you :).