The Luck o' the Irish....Cupcake...

Americans have a great habit of using other nation's holidays as an excuse to drink and eat luxuriously, celebrating the traditions of foreign lands as their own with family, friends, and complete strangers. It's an excess that we have down to a science, often making our Americanized celebrations more lavish and over-the-top than in their country of origin. How many times have you regained consciousness in a tequila-soaked fog of regret, finding yourself in a stranger's bathtub wearing little more than a sombrero that was lovingly crafted by a child worker in Taiwan and the remains of the cheap nachos you consumed at the bar the night before on the 6th of May? Not that I did that, and not that there are photos of it. (I didn't. And there aren't.)

In addition to our penchant for celebrating holidays that don't technically have anything to do with us as Americans, we have cleverly disguised our rampant alcoholism by celebrating the milestones leading to these holy days of drinking. And in pondering this phenomenon today, I realized we are just over a month away from Halfway To St. Patrick's Day! This September 18th, don the most outrageous green shirt you've got, raise a pint to the Emerald Isle, and savor one or more of these unbelievably decadent cupcakes. One bite, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow will suddenly become unimportant...

IRISH CAR BOMB CUPCAKES

GET THIS

For The Cupcakes-
1 cup Guiness stout, from a can
2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Ganache Filling-
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting-
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Creme (original flavor, not chocolate mint or caramel)

Note: You will need either a 1" round cookie cutter, an apple corer, or be very skilled with the concept of taking out part of the center of a cupcake with some other tool...

DO THIS

Cupcakes-
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.
2. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
3. In your electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream until well blended. Add the beer butter and beat on low until just combined. On low speed, briefly add in flour, sugar and baking soda, turn off mixer and fold gently with a spatula.
4. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes.
5. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Ganache Filling-
1. Place chopped chocolate or chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
2.Heat the whipping cream until just simmering (for best results, place the cream in a bowl or heatproof glass in a pan of boiling water to prevent scalding the cream).
3. Pour the simmering cream over the chocolate, let sit for one minute, then stir until completely smooth. If some chocolate remains unmelted, 20 seconds in the microwave under close supervision will take care of it.
4. Add the butter and whiskey, and stir until combined. Let cool until the filling thickens to the consistency of cake icing. (You can refrigerate the filling, but stir it every ten minutes to maintain consistency)

Filling the Cupcakes-
1. Cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. Remove the center about 2/3 of the way down.
2. Fill a pastry piping bag with the ganache - if you don't have one, fill a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner.
3. Slowly fill each cupcake to the top.

Make the Frosting-
1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time - adding too much at once makes the frosting a little grainy.
2. Whip in the Bailey's until smooth. If this makes your frosting too thin, beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
3. Frost the cupcakes as desired, either with a spatula or a pastry piping bag.

Decadent, delicious, and makes 24 cupcakes.

Yellow Leaves Already??

It's not even August yet, so imagine my surprise when I got into my truck this morning for work, flicked the windshield wipers on to get rid of last night's rain, and four or five yellow leaves went flying off the glass. It's rained for almost two weeks straight in Alaska, in what is supposed to be our glorious summer. It's not fair. The gloomy weather is putting me in the mind of fall-related things, like sweaters, and bonfires with friends passing bottles of wine while wrapped in blankets, and hearty stews that warm you to the core and keep that fire burning at night. Normally, I only make this stew in the fall or winter months, but I might break down and make it this weekend. If you decide to, your taste buds will thank you.

APPLE CIDER PORK STEW

GET THIS
2 pounds pork loin, cubed
3 cups baby carrots, halved
2 pounds baby red potatoes, quartered
1-2 Fiji apples, cut into medium pieces
1.5 cups apple cider
Wondra Gravy and Sauce flour (this is the only thickener I have ever gotten to work with this recipe)
Salt and pepper to taste

DO THIS
1. Combine all ingredients except for flour in a slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours.
2. Reduce to medium setting and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Before serving, shake flour into the mixture and stir thoroughly until stew reaches desired thickness.
4. Serve with sweet dinner rolls.

**Also, you can leave this stew to cook while you're at work for 8 hours on medium.

Serves 4-6.