Chocolate Baileys Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my friend as part of our secret santa but have only just got round to posting about them. She loves Bailey's so I thought I'd incorporate it into some baked goods, a standard present from me (as well as giving her a bottle of it). The recipe is from 'Making Cupcakes with Lola' and I've been wanting to make them for a while. The sponge is chocolate with both whiskey and Bailey's added to it and on top is a Bailey's buttercream. After piping the icing onto the cakes I topped them off with a simple florist paste flower which I made using the large blossom cutter.

I was a little disappointed with myself for these cupcakes as I got carried away with Christmas T.V and over baked them slightly, however my friend was still very happy with them. The buttercream was really nice as it had just the right amount of Bailey's in it without it being overpowering or sickly.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, hopefully Olivia and I can keep up with our baking this year but bare with us as we sometimes find it hard to balance both university work and baking. I got a lot of baking goodies for Christmas so I might write a post about those this week at some point.

Recipe 
(Making Cupcakes with Lola - Victoria Jossel & Romy Lewis)
Makes 12 regular or 24 tiny cupcakes

For the sponge:
100g (31/2 oz) milk chocolate, chopped
125g (1 stick) butter, cubed
220g (1 cup) plus 1 tbsp caster sugar
120ml (1/2 cup) Baileys
2 tbsp whiskey
1 egg
a pinch of salt
150g (1 cup) plus 3 tablespoons plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the buttercream:
125g (1 stick) butter, cubed and soft
500g (3 2/3 cups) icing sugar
3 tbsp Bailey's
1 tbsp milk

muffin pan lined with 12 muffin cases or mini-cupcake pan lined with 24 mini cupcake cases

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• Put the chocolate, butter, sugar, Baileys and Whiskey in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Heat, stirring, until the chocolate melts and you have a smooth, glossy mixture. Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 
• Now add the egg and salt and beat with an electric hand mixer. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the bowl and beat until blended. 
• Divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or a little less for tiny cupcakes. They should be well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating. 
• While the cupcakes are cooling down, make the Baileys buttercream. 
• Put the butter in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until very soft and smooth. Sift half the sugar into the bowl, beating until incorporated. 
• Add the second half of the sugar and beat on a low speed. Slowly pour in the Baileys and milk and when they are all mixed in, beat for 3-5 minutes on a higher speed. 
• Spread the frosting over the cold cupcakes using a spatula, or spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle/tip and pipe it on top of the cupcakes. 

Thanks for reading,

Naomi ♥