Whiskey Chocolate Cupcakes

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day that turned rainy and stormy as the day progressed, but while I was backing these cupcakes it was gorgeous out, I love those kinds of days.  As I was drinking my coffee early in the morning, I began pondering what I wanted to bake during the day.  Thursdays are my day off and I love to bake on those days; there is something about enjoying my daily coffee while dreaming of delicious treats that just gets my day started off right.  Yesterday I also had an ulterior motive, a good friend who comes in to work out every morning, his birthday is actually today.  So I began dreaming of chocolate and fall.  My first thought was chocolate and apples, but I came to a screeching halt when I tried to figure out how to incorporate chocolate cake and apples, nothing seemed like a good choice.  So I started rooting through my cupboards trying to figure out what I could mix with chocolate to come up with a good fall cupcake.  Coffee instantly came to mind, but I make all my chocolate baked goodies with coffee, I think that it enhances the chocolate flavor, so really, chocolate and coffee was already a given.  Finally, I went to throw something away and happened to glance up in my closet that holds my garbage can... liquor!  Well the first bottle that was in my eyesight was Margaritaville White Tequila and all I could think of was Tequila and chocolate... YUCK!  But then I was struck with an idea I had a few weeks ago before I went to Australia about whiskey and chocolate chip cookies.  Well, I thought, let's get online and see what I can find in relationship to chocolate and whiskey cupcakes.  Low and behold, there are BUNCHES of people who are like me and believe that you should mix your liquor and chocolate and end up with delicious baked concoctions.  WHOO HOO!  Raise a toast to all of us! 
The recipe that I used for the actual cupcakes came from Wicked Whiskey Cupcakes , however, I left out a few of the spices at the end because the Maker's Mark that I used was more than enough and I wanted them to be true Whiskey cupcakes, without the spice.  I also used the idea of their frosting, but not the actual recipe because I didn't have condensed milk on hand, so I'll put my frosting recipe on here. 
These cupcakes got rave reviews from the birthday boy and everyone else who tried one this Friday morning.  In fact, it might have been the most perfect start 6:30am on a Friday morning in recent memory.  I would suggest, that if you have a Friday morning off, or maybe a Saturday morning, to make these the night before and then that morning curl up on the couch with a Whiskey Chocolate Cupcake and some coffee (with possibly the matching whiskey inside that cup of steaming coffee, if you're not opposed to alcohol before noon)  and enjoy a thing of absolute beauty. 
Without further ado, here is the

Whiskey Chocolate Cupcake recipe

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used 10 Tbs of dark chocolate, and 6 Tbs of milk chocolate)
1 cup STRONGLY brewed coffee
1 cup of American whiskey (I highly suggest Maker's Mark, but use JD or Wild Turkey, whatever you want)
2 sticks of butter cut in to pieces (so it melts faster)
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla



Melt the butter, cocoa powder, coffee and whiskey on the stove in a pan.  When the butter is all melted, add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved.   (This didn't take long for me, about five minutes.  Don't worry about burning off the alcohol because it will bake out when you put the cupcakes in the oven.  If you taste this chocolate, butter, coffee, alcohol mixture, you'll think YUMM followed by OMG strong, but trust me, GO WITH IT!) 
Take this mixture off the stove and let it cool for a few minutes (I let it cool for as long as it took me to mix everything else together in a separate bowl. 
Add the flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla and eggs into another bowl.  Add the chocolate, butter, sugar, whiskey mixture.  Stir well.  The batter will appear really, really wet, almost like chocolate soup, but have no fear, it will bake up I promise. 
Have your oven preheated to 325 degrees and fill your cupcake liners with batter about 3/4 or so of the way to top.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes, I think mine actually took about 26, but when a toothpick comes out clean.  Warning:  Be careful sticking your head/face in the oven to get these cupcakes out, the steam is about 190 proof and it's a great way to get a second hand drunk going on.  Wait until they cool a bit and then ice them with this fabulous, fudgy concoction that forms a whiskey, chocolaty shell on top of these dense, fudgy cupcakes. 

Frosting:
3 Tbs of Whiskey (the same used in the cupcakes please)
3 Tbs of coffee
1 cup of dark chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips, but I used the dark and they were scrumptious)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of powdered sugar  (I didn't measure this, I just added it until the frosting was slightly sweet

First, to get the raw alcohol taste out of your frosting, put the 3 Tbs of whiskey in a pot and bring to a boil.  Once it begins to boil, let it boil for about a minute and then add the coffee (same coffee you used in the cupcakes) and then add the chocolate while those are hot.  Melt the chocolate in the coffee and whiskey and then add the powdered sugar to bring it to a thick, just barely below fudge type frosting.  I also used the powdered sugar as added sweetness.  Scoop onto the cupcakes while the frosting is still warm and spread around with a knife.  The frosting will then harden into a shell and create a delicious topping to these whiskey cupcakes.  If you think that the whiskey flavor isn't strong enough, before you frost the cupcakes you can brush the tops of the cooled cupcakes with some whiskey for an additional layer of flavor.  I didn't do this, but it was a suggestion that I saw online.  If I ever make these cupcakes again (which I believe I will, they were a huge hit),  I think I'll give that a try. 

Apple Spice Angel Food Cake

I love Angel food cake, I would probably eat Angel food cake every day if I could, however, that would require more time at the gym and I'm just not willing to put in more than two hours or so.  So being that it's fall and it's the season for apples, warmth, and all things good, I figured that this Apple - Spice Angel food Cake would be amazing!  I actually made it today and I couldn't resist trying a piece, even though I planned to take it home to my brother (who is coming home to visit this weekend).  It turned out beautiful and tastes even better.  Since Angel food is low in fat and this recipe also contains unsweetened apple sauce, I felt like I was doing something good, even though it tasted sinful.    So with very few changes, here is my recipe. 

Ingredients

1 package  angel food cake mix

1 cup water

2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 teaspoon apple pie spice (I didn't have apple pie spice, so I used 1 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg)

brown sugar, more pecans and cinnamon

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine cake mix and water. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Fold in the applesauce, pecans and pie spice.
• Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets.
• On the top of the cake, sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. 
• Bake on the lowest oven rack at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until lightly browned and entire top appears dry.
• Immediately invert pan; cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Run a knife around side and center tube of pan. Remove cake to a serving plate. Garnish with whipped topping and/or apple slices if desired. Yield: 16 servings.

Nutritional Facts 1 slice (calculated without optional ingredients) equals 136 calories, 3 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 209 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1/2 fat.

Coconut Craisin Muffins

I just got back from 8 days in Australia, Brisbane and Sydney to be exact.  The trip was wonderful and I really enjoyed Australia; the country is beautiful, the people friendly and I can hardly wait to go back!  However, three days later and I'm still suffering from some pretty awful jet lag.  That part has not been so fun.  So at 4 o'clock this morning, I decided that I wanted some muffins for breakfast.  Nice, piping hot muffins that when you cut them open and put some butter on them, the butter instantly melts and drips off the edge.  My mouth waters even now.  So I looked on the Splenda website, not really sure why I decided on that site, but I think it had something to do with the Splenda Blend that is sitting on my counter.  I hadn't used it in a while, so I figured, why not?  Well, on the Splenda website, there was a recipe for Orange Cranberry Muffins.  I didn't have an orange, but I figured I could use orange extract, however, it turned out that I didn't actually have any orange extract.  So as I stood there in my kitchen, dreaming about hot buttered muffins, my mind kicked into overdrive and I HAD to figure out how to flavor these muffins.  So I figured what the heck and grabbed the coconut extract.  I figured the worse that would happen is that they might be awful and my dream of biscuits would go down the drain.  When they were baking though, the smells emanating from the oven would have made even the strongest man wilt.  When the oven timer went off, I pulled the muffins out of the oven, and immediately cut on open and slathered it in butter.  Let me tell you, I hit a HOMERUN!  YUMMMMMYYY  Perfect start to breakfast at 4:45am this morning on a day that turned out to be cold and definitely fall like.    So here's my recipe, there are a few small changes from the recipe above, and let me tell you, small they may be, but you end up with one big flavored muffin!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup SPLENDA^® Blend

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 large egg

1/3 cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, pour yourself 1/3 cup milk and had 1 tsp vinegar)

1/2 cup Craisins

 

DIRECTIONS

1. PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Line 6 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.
2. MIX together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
3. BEAT butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add SPLENDA^® Blend and coconut extract beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat.
4. STIR in buttermilk. Gradually stir in flour mixture until just combined.
5. FOLD in craisins. Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups.
6. BAKE 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned
7. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with Splenda Blend.
8.  Remove from pan, cool for a moment, slather with butter and ENJOY!