Homemade Hazelnut Irish Cream

I’m not an Irish Cream on the rocks kind of girl.

I love it in my morning coffee or as an after dinner dessert drink.

I especially love it in a creamy Swiss Meringue icing.  Gorgeously piled on top of a Guinness Dark Chocolate Cupcake.

Or in a Hazelnut Irish Cream and Chocolate Ice Cream.

Rich Callebaut chocolate chunks marbled throughout a creamy Irish Cream Ice Cream?  Yes Please!

Do you see a theme here?

I think Irish Cream lends a smooth and creamy flavour to many desserts without going overboard.  And, even better when it can be made in an instant.  Literally.  Five minutes of prep time and your guests will love you for it.

Tell me your favourite way to use Irish Cream.

Homemade Hazelnut Irish Cream Liquor

*adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
•  1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 1 cup Irish Whiskey
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 2 tbsp chocolate syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp hazelnut oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.  Shake well before using.

Maple Apple Upside Down Cake

Maple Syrup season is beginning around here.  The maple trees are tapped for their maple sap in early spring when days are warm and nights are still freezing.

Maple Syrup has such a sweet smell and there’s nothing like eating the real thing.   Even better when it is soaked into a moist cake with apple slices on top.

We are fortunate to have a ‘sugar shack’ just a few miles down the road.   They have been producing some of Canada’s best syrup for many generations.

Remember here?  These Blueberry Cupcakes With Maple Buttercream also use the real thing and are one of my most requested cupcakes.

I found this delicious recipe on Cake, a wonderful blog full of party idea’s and recipes.   The recipe actually calls for pears but I used my favourite Granny Smith Apple.  The cake is so moist, with little ripples of maple syrup-y goodness throughout.

• 11 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 to 4 apples , peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk

 Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Flour and butter a 9″ cake pan.

1.  Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat; add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. When mixture has cooled a bit, pour it into baking pan and arrange apple slices in an overlapping circle on top.
2. Beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, beating until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not over mix. Carefully spread batter over apples, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 to 50 minutes; a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. Let cake cool for 5 minutes.
4. Carefully invert cake onto a cake plate or serving platter.  Be careful!  The topping is still hot!

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Have a glass of milk handy for these yummy things.

This is a ‘need a sugar fix’, ‘dying for some cookie dough’, and  ‘want some comfort food’ kind of dessert all wrapped into one.  A dense and sweet Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake with cookie dough baked right into the middle.

Why choose between cookie and cake when you can have both?   I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time and had the opportunity to use it this week-end.  It’s from the wonderfully written blog Kevin and Amanda .  The cookie dough has no eggs in it, so no worries about raw eggs sitting in your cupcakes!  Brilliant Amanda!

These tasted so fantastic just shortly after coming out of the oven.  Still a touch warm.  Like a warm cookie.

The key to these cupcakes is to freeze the cookie dough the night before so it doesn’t bake when you bake the cupcake.

Like these, see?

I used Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream on top of mine.  It’s sweet but not overly sweet so goes well with the loaded cookie dough cake.  You can find the recipe for that here, but don’t include the rum syrup in the recipe.

Cookie Dough

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.   Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Mix in the flour and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2.  Using a small scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes. Freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight.

Cupcakes

1 1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners .

1.    Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.   Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix well.

2.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low-speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated.

3.  Using an ice cream scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.  Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.

Remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool and if you haven’t eaten them all up, top them off with a swirl of Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Enjoy!