Mudslide Cupcakes!

I couldn't wait to share this with you today.  I have many more recipes to share, but you know what?  This one is first in line today.  I usually try to stay away from boozy desserts since for me there's always too much of an alcohol taste to them.  Also coffee flavored anything is usually a big NO for me since they taste awful. Some people don't like strawberries or cherries, I don't like coffee flavored anything. But here I am slowly but surely changing my mind. Maybe I'm becoming more of an adult!  

I'm not sure what compelled me to make these, save for the fact that I LOVE chocolate.  Chocolate cupcakes always seem to dry out a bit and become a big pile of disappointment.  But these, dear lord these are good super moist, rich and velvety!  And the Bailey's butter cream frosting was divine. I took a spoonful or two to taste ;).  I will say though that these cupcakes defiantly have a boozy taste about them.

Here's what you'll need to get started:

Mudslide Cupcakes

Servings: approximately 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3 eggs, separated and at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup strong cold coffee

3/4 cup Kahlua

For the Kahlua buttercream:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups (or more, if needed) powdered sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons Kahlua

3 tablespoons hot coffee

For the Bailey’s buttercream:

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, shaved in curls

Instructions

1. For the cupcakes:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and prepare your cupcake pan with your desired liners.

2. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy.

3.  Add the granulated sugar to the eggs with the mixer running and continue to whisk, at medium-high speed, until the mixture is thick, stiff, and glossy.  Transfer the egg white mixture to another bowl, and clean out your standing mixer bowl thoroughly.

4. In your clean mixer bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

5. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

6. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.

7. With the mixer speed on low, slowly add the flour mixture, coffee, and Kahlua alternately, ending with the flour mixture.

8. Stop the mixer, and gently fold in the egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula, until well-combined.

9. Fill each prepared cupcake liner about two-thirds full.

10.  Bake the cupcakes for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

11. For the Kahlua buttercream:  In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until smooth.

12. Add the cocoa powder, Kahlua, and coffee, adding more powdered sugar if necessary.  Set aside.

13. For the Bailey’s buttercream: In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or another bowl if you are getting tired of cleaning your mixer bowl out….), combine the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.

14. Add the vanilla extract and Bailey’s Irish Cream, mixing well until combined.

15. Pipe the buttercream (description of how-to below) onto the cupcakes and garnish with chocolate curls.

Now let's talk about swirling icing. First what I did was I filled up two disposable pastry bags with the frosting, one in each bag.  Then I cut the tips off of those and put them into another larger disposable pastry bag fit with my desired tip (if you don't have one ziplock bags work just as well, pipe the frosting out of a corner). Squeeze out a bit of the frosting on a paper plate just to get the first few air bubbles out and to get the frosting to come out at the same time. This is a little tricky if it's your first time trying to swirl frosting since the consistency of these two are different one came out a little better.  If your frosting is too watery just add more powdered sugar 1/4c at a time until the desired thickness is reached.