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.