Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Blame it on the Cup...cup...cup...cupcakes.

There's always one on St. Patrick's Day.

One who thinks he's Lord of the Dance.



And one who ends up on the front lawn.


Jake likes to bake with chocolate. With Austin's name he has to appreciate whiskey, and do you think they say no to Guinness on St. Patrick's Day? And the Bailey's? Not the only cream that can get you in trouble .

These may sound like a drink with a controversial name you've tried before, but we're going with the generic Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes instead.

Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes
Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

Check out the pictures and the rest of her great site.

Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes

"While the Guinness in the cake gets mostly baked out, the Baileys is fresh and potent, so if you’re making this for people who don’t drink — ahem, nobody I know, but I hear such people exist — you’ll probably want to swap it with milk.

The Baileys frosting recipe makes a smallish amount of frosting — enough to just cover the cupcakes. Because they were so rich and this frosting so sweet, I felt it only needed a little. Double it if you want more of a towering effect."

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (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

Ganache Filling ("Updated to double it, based on many commenters suggestions — thanks!")
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. 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.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. 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. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting: 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.

"[This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.]"

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes. "[I used a star tip and made little "poofs" everywhere and sprinkled it with various colors of sanding sugar to keep it looking festive for New Years. I bet shaved dark and white chocolates would look gorgeous as well.]"

Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. "(Longer, they will start to get stale.)"

Happy St. Patrick's Day

47 comments:

destiny said...

That is some cupcake recipe. Love the plastic geese too, too bad I don't have a lawn to put them on.

It is finally spring here! Supposed to be 65 today, ate my first dinner of the year at an outside cafe last night, and saw my first daffodil in Central Park.

Special K said...

That's no plastic one, its hard as stone,well cement. ; )

destiny said...

February 9,2007
It was during casting of TDAT, Austin walked in and the rest was history. They couldn't take their eyes off each other.


This could be true, or it could be fanfic. No weay of knowing with an anonyous post on a fan blog. Personally it always read a little too much like something out of a slash story for me to believe it.

I also think it is pretty common to cast smaller roles pretty close to the time they shoot, and in fact I'm always seeing stories about people being added to casts even as they shoot. I also question whether Jake would have been at a casting call for smaller parts like that because I don't think they care too much about chemistry between the actors for roles like that. And even if it did go down that way, I seriously dobut it was in April, which was almost 8 months before shooting. Late summer or fall seems much more likely.

This is of course just my opinion based on what I've read about the movie business, I certainly don't have any more of a clue as to what actually happened than anyone else.

destiny said...

Ok, I could not tell it was cement with the sun glaring on my screen. :-D

Too bad I don't have a yard, it might be fun to have one.

Special K said...

Well we know that Jake at the casting with Emmy. Since we've seen the video of them kissing at the casting.

And while JD sounds like a small part the main bulk of the story was with the four of them, so I can see Jake being there when then were casting all three of the group in the library.

I also think Roland saw the connection between Jake and Austin and capitalized on it. We know from the behind the scenes, that the entire scene in JD's apt was added in, the whole set had to be creeated and that JD's part was expanded.

destiny said...

I think Roland saw the connection between them too, just not sure when he first saw it.

I didn't know there is casting film of Jake with Emmy, I thought film of them was from rehearsals.

Some day someone will probably write a tell-all book on Jake, but probably not for many decades, and probably long after I'm gone.

m said...

Not only did Roland see the connection, but the scenes that include both of them are shot in such a way as to frame them in the picture. Someone noticed this way back when and posted some of the screen shots. It was probably on WFT, but I don't remember where now.

Interesting Toothy mention today. I can see Jake totally loving being Toothy. He has that sense of humor and playfulness.

Sweet Tooth said...

I love this recipe, especially the Bailey's frosting.

Is that a little gosling too?

Have a great day, all! :)

absolut confection said...

I love the Smitten Kitchen site. Thanks! :)

Joshua David Nehme said...

Jake Gyllenhaal at Olive + Gourmando http://yfrog.com/jkecxj

8 minutes ago

Special K said...

Funny how that little gosling's there isn't it?

Great observation M. And I think about some of the screencaps of them in the library and how it was framed and even how they blocked to maximize it. And I agree I can see him totally smitten with being Toothy. And again Ted says that he doesn't like the bearding thing.

Does it look like Jake is picking up something to go? Seems like he does that a lot more. I wonder if it is just for one or two or more.

Special K said...

New PoP video this time about Dastan when he was little, and the young actor who plays the future Prince of Persia.

Young Dastan

The parkour that this kid does is amazing.

prairiegirl said...

LOLLLL! That dancing vid is a hoot. Reminds me of my nephew.
What a ham Jake is.
That's classic.

Short time on today. We had a little chat fest today with all the rest of the office out. Big discussion on traffic tickets. lol.

Now it's back to work. **sigh**.
And no writing done yet again.

prairiegirl said...

Love the goose and the baby goose. Awwww, that little one is cute.

I love those outfits on those cement geese. They're hilarious. You can look at a Miles Kimball catalog and they have all kinds of clothes for those geese, for all kinds of holidays.

What are they supposed to be ? Is that a leprachaun costume? Robin Hood? I can't tell.

I'm trying out a test pair of contact lenses and I don't think they're going to work out. I don't see as well. I have to keep leaning too close. Maybe if I tried that with those geese, lol.

Seaweed said...

Happy, Happy, Happy Saint Patrick's Day to one and all.

Lord tundering!

from an old green Seaweed

Atticus said...

Jake getting breakfast for his best friend. Except, I never got it. Where the hell is it? Liar.

in demand said...

billith88: http://boone.craigslist.org/m4m/1648894320.html Does this person really expect to find a guy who looks like Jake Gyllenhaal?
17 minutes ago

new PoP pictures said...

Dastan: You are wearing too much clothes!

sass said...

I don't understand why Austin didn't get the lead role on the new show on FX as a US Marshall... it's a good show too. I watched it last night and completely forgot the name of it today.
Austin is a WAY WAY better actor than one lead on this show...I remember him as one of the lead actors on Deadwood...arrr.. Oh well Austin's time will come.

I have to tell you friends here that I am not going to recover from this damned Breast Cancer if I keep reading and seeing this Reese PR every where.

Who do you on this blog See as the Really unhappy person in this picture. Hell, I noticed Jake's misery while I was at my docs office being treated, thought it was nothing, but I did register his facial expression. Jake can can hide nothing on his face...tain't possible for him...that's why he's such a great actor.
I'm babbling Puleeeze Reese, stop the machine...and listen I notice nothing while I'm feeling YUCKY ready to be looked over by silly docs but I saw his sad face looking so distant and forlorn while she smiled.

see link below...I've forgotten how to access my account and for sure how to link...Chemo brain :lol


http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/photos/better-
after-breakup-20092011/7307

[quote]Reese Witherspoon, 33, stepped out at the Vanity Fair Oscar in February 2009 with then-beau Jake Gyllenhaal, who she began dating in March 2007 after they filmed Rendition together.[quote]

Better After Breakup!
[quote]
AFTER

Witherspoon went solo to an event in Washington, D..C. on March 10, 2010. She and Gyllenhaal called it quits in late December. "She couldn't give Jake enough and she got cold feet. Jake wanted all of her," a source tells Us. She is now reportedly seeing Hollywood agent Jim Toth.
[/quote]
end of rant...who knew how little I knew about PR...this is the same crap I read when she broke with Ryan...Hollyweird!
see ya later to coming back when I feel up to it to read and catch up...enjoying myself here...TY
Mina

prairiegirl said...

Hi sass! So nice to see you. I remember you - gosh, was it last year sometime because I remember you dealing with your illness back then, I think. My prayers are with you as you fight this nasty word C. I hate it with a passion.

Isn't that stuff just maddening? And you are so right. Jake for the most part could hardly hide his boredom/distaste. She on the other hand, she could paint a happy, besotted face on at the blow of a whistle.

Jake wanted all of her.

LOLLLLLLL! Who told her PR to write that Gerber goop? Her??

Wonderful to see you!

just got it said...

Forgot that Thin Lizzy was Irish.

Jake said...

I wanted all of her allright, all of her gone.

destiny said...

I am not going to recover from this damned Breast Cancer if I keep reading and seeing this Reese PR every where.

My first reaction was to laugh; my second is that I hope you are on the road to recovery Sass.

prairiegirl said...

Reese is a piece of work. What's funny is she has nothing going on in her career/tabloid life right now. Everytime she's on JJ, her publicity machine, it's coffee. Yoga. Shopping. Coffee. Fake friend time. Coffee. Working out. Coffee. Hired boyfriend/hot date time. Coffee.

Jake's the one right now with a full plate. And looking sharper than a tack.

He should be heading to Vegas very soon? Darn! I wish I had set up a weekend visit to my aunt & cousin who live there right now. They are the ones who used to live here but moved back to Vegas a couple years ago. I ought to ask my cousin to keep an eye out for any cupcake stores.

OHHH! That reminds me. We have a cupcake place at the property next door. LOLLL! I can't believe it. My city with a cupcake place. I can't remember what it's called. I'll have to go check it out.

I must go hit the hay, my eyelids are literally closing on me. Work everyday is just this steamrolling ball of awful. I don't know but this new warehouse mgmt system was alot of hype, alot of nonsense, alot of blowhole. I'm not seeing the big to-do. All it's done is cause all of us more work, more hours & more stress.

I am going to be roommate-less for a good amount of time as my sister is leaving for Greece tomorrow. Last year it was Italy & NYC. This year it's Greece. What is up with that.

I'm going to run with scissors like crazy and jump on my bed, I'll tell you that right now.

destiny said...

LOL PG. Do we need to send someone out to Kansas to keep an eye on you?

Florida Tom said...

Happy St. Pattys Day everyone.

I loved that line Jake wanted all of her also. What a hoot.

So should we expect to see a J and A pic in April Spesh. That would make Spring even more sweet after this long cold snowy winter.


PG Jersey is doing OK. Some folks are still without electricity though. Sat was quite a mess. My normal drive home from where I worked Sat is around 50 minutes. It took me over 2.5 hrs on Sat. Trees were down everywhere. I was so lost. I felt like I was going in circles.

Hang in there Sass. Make sure you get ur Pet/Ct scan.

Las Vegas said...

He should be heading to Vegas very soon?

Not likely.

The Pixar sequel will be screened March 16; the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "Persia" will be shown March 18, the final day of the four-day exhibition confab in Las Vegas.

Special K said...

Today is the 18th. 50/50 shot he flew in last night or he flies in this morning.

prairiegirl said...

Not sure why one would say not likely, then. I would think there's a high chance he'll be there. Or I would think.

Tom, so what happened?? Did you have big thunderstorms? Those must have been some high winds.

Las Vegas said...

Jake is filming a movie and there is no reason for him to be in Las Vegas.

prairiegirl said...

Well, he could be there. Guess we'll see. I think it'd be good if he was, if he gets let off of the set. Not sure why there's no reason. Why is there no reason, such an open & shut deal? I think it'd be a great opportunity to have a one hour hook up with a tall Texan before the next flight leaves out, myself. LOL.

You know Vegas is a great city; I love it, been there several times. One of the great things about Vegas is that city does not sleep. It just goes 24/7.

There is a great sandwich place at one end of the newer strip; it's sort of a hole in the wall. And we walked forever and a day to get there, I'll never forget. We went there because our friend with the Fromer's said it was highly recommended and boy, was that thing right. I had a turkey sandwich that had dressing and cranberry sauce on it and that was the best sandwich I have ever had. *sigh*. All sandwiches have always paled in comparison ever since.

A bummer part about Vegas is how they did away with the cups. You know, the cups that you carried your quarters around in? I loved to carry my cup of quarters; don't know what it was about that. But now you get just get a printout and you go cash that thing in. That's not near as much fun as carrying your cup of quarters. And your hands would get so dirty.

Don't you just love that ding, ding, ding, ding noise? I love that sound. Never heard it very often for myself, LOLLL, but it was fun to hear or see someone win big. I don't ever play for very long; restrict my spending on those things and once I'm out of money, I'm out, that's it. But boy, those things are fun. And some of the casinos are so cool.

The New York, New York was awesome downstairs, has anyone been to that one? The way they recreated the city streets? They had a pretty good fish n chips place. That was one of my favorites. There's another one with gorgeous gardens inside, can't remember the name of it. Don't think it's the Palozzo.

And that is your online guide to Vegas. LOLLL. Unfortunate to see the chattiness didn't go away with the Sandman last night.

prairiegirl said...

And you can get a cheap breakfast there. When I was there with these friends, one of them with the Fromers, we had to get up at some goshawful hour just to go downstairs and partake in the $1.00 something breakfast that we saw advertised on the TV. LOLL! Talk about bleary-eyed. Is that stupid or what. Just so we could say that we had a $1.00 something breakfast; can't even remember how much it was exactly.

Okay, enough Vegas memories. Back to life, back to reality...bleh.

Special K said...

Jake is scheduled to be at ShoWest for the preview of PoP as well as the tribute to Jerry Bruckheimer.

And Jake is confirmed to be in San Francisco for WonderCon next month by Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner

Las Vegas said...

WonderCon is during weekend.

Special K said...

Some one met the cast of OTH in Park City, except for:

The only 2 cast members that were outside watching their fans (including me) in the cold and would not come over while all their other cast mates made the time were Sophia Bush (Brooke) and Austin Nichols (Julian).


It's the first time I ever read that Austin didn't come over to the fans. Other commenters said that he is nice and came over days before, but Christina called him rude. Which is one word I don't think anyone has ever heard said about Austin. Makes you wonder if he didn't want to do the Brulian thing or the Sophin thing one more time.

On location OTH Park City

Special K said...

Honestly you think the star of Disney Tent Pole movie of the summer is not going to show up at the exclusive preview for the theater owners? It is one day off the set for Jake to do ShoWest.

Las Vegas said...

Jake was free but didn't attend Comic-Con and Disney D23 Expo Movie Event.

People magazine said...

Matchmaker Poll: Pick Jennifer Love Hewitt's Next Guy

Jennifer Love Hewitt's single again – and what better way for the self-proclaimed "love-aholic" to get over her breakup with Jamie Kennedy than hooking up with a cute rebound!

In the hope of finding the Ghost Whisperer star and admitted "relationship kind of girl," the perfect possible match, we're going through her ex files to unearth her type.
...
The Good Guy:
The Ex: Carson Daly
The Match: Jake Gyllenhaal
In the midst of their yearlong romance in 1998, Hewitt couldn't help but gush over the MTV VJ's "incredibly truthful" blue eyes. And since she loves honest guys with big baby blues so much, maybe Hewitt could help Gyllenhaal mend his broken heart.
...
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20352172,00.html

ShoWest said...

From what I understand there will be a screening this afternoon for critics and bloggers. Nothing more - no reason for Jake to be there.

At Wondercon there will be a Q&A panel - with Jake, Mechner, Newell and Bruckheimer.

Special K said...

You forget that this is where the theater owners gather too. Not just critics and bloggers. It is the biggest meeting in the industry. If Bruck wants to really kick off the PR for this, I can't see him not wanting Jake to be there.

"ShoWest is the largest annual convention for the motion picture industry. It is the only international gathering devoted exclusively to the movie business and the single largest international gathering of motion picture professionals and theater owners in the world. The 2010 edition of ShoWest will be held March 15-18 at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas and is expected to draw more than 5,000 members of the motion picture industry."

Stubborn TB said...

From what I understand there will be a screening this afternoon for critics and bloggers. Nothing more - no reason for Jake to be there.


Using that logic, no celebrity should ever show up at the premiere of their movie.
They've done their promotion tour, no reason for them to attend when the movie is shown to some people.

No one is saying that Jake 100% has to be showing up, just saying he might be. What is so horrible about that?

destiny said...

Since college I have only been to Vegas once and that was just for a day after going to Death Valley, so didn't get to see that much of it. We stayed at the Venitian, the one with the canal in it. The Bellagio was one I sa, and decked out for Christmas unlike any place I've seen. I think they decorated areas that normally have flowers. I remember a pool of cranberries, and polar bears made out of white flowers.

destiny said...

Odd about Sophin. The negative influence of bearding?

Could see Jake in Vegas; if they wanted him, they would have worked out a schedule so he can go, just like they do for award shows, other promo.

$$$ said...

No one would interrupt filming just to let Jake say Hi to people who will watch PoP this evening.

Jake Gyllenhaal NOT Coming to Ottawa said...

Despite previous reports, Jake Gyllenhaal will not be filming scenes for the upcoming thriller Source Code. VIA Rail couldn't come to terms for their fee with the producers, so Ottawa will miss out on as much as $200,000 injected into the local economy. Also, we'll miss out on Jake Gyllenhaal. Thanks, VIA. If you can't get the trains to run on time, you could at least expose us to a hottie or two (co-star Vera Farmiga).

link

Vanity Fair said...

No one would interrupt filming, but I'm sure Jake is not in every single scene in the movie. If Disney and Bruckheimer wanted him in Vegas, Jake would have negotiated having that day off, and if Duncan didn't want to slow down the movie, he could film around Jake. To me the big question is whether they wanted him or not, not whether he could take a one day break.

Someone sure doesn't want Jake to be in Vegas. Does that have anything to do with the fact we know it's one of Austin's favorite places?

just another screening said...

What would be the reason for Jake to be in Vegas? I don't see any.