Baileys Mudslide Cupcakes: Volume One of my Boozy Bakes! -

Yum

This weekend while working on these Bailey’s Chocolate Mudslide Cupcakes I invented something that really shouldn’t be allowed to exist: Baileys pastry cream. It is so indulgent and smooth and luscious and devastatingly caloric and utterly irresistible that I really shouldn’t be keeping it in the house. I am too weak.

But more on that in a moment.

I have recently discovered the beauty that is a cupcake. I’m not sure what took me so long to reach the conclusion that they are worth the hype, but they really are. I’m a classically messy baker with a comically short attention span, and that occasionally makes beautifully decorating full sized cakes a challenge for me. I am far too impatient to wait for big sponges to cool. I am not interested in adequately chilling crumb coats. Making them look professional takes forever. BUT the cupcake comes with its own little cute jacket that just hides all the mistakes! No one can tell if my filling is lopsided. I can chuck the cupcakes directly in the freezer to cool, and they are tiny so it only takes like five minutes. And you can certainly pack a lot of flavor in that adorable little package.

The Boozy Bakes Series…

I have been looking for a cupcake-related project, and I have landed on BOOZY BAKES, a series of cocktail-themed cupcakes that I will be premiering once a week until I either a) run out of the large supply of liquor hastily stockpiled during the early days of the pandemic or b) get bored with this project. This cupcake is the first of that series, and at the risk of sounding arrogant, I must admit that they taste amazing. They really do. And they aren’t even difficult. Grab your butter and your Bailey’s and head into your kitchen right this second, so you don’t have to go a moment longer without tasting that pastry cream.

Sidenote: thank you to my bestie Katie from preventing me from calling the project by the other title I had considered, which turned out to be quite…inappropriate. I tried to combine the words “cocktail” and “cupcake” into one word and a rather unfortunate result ensued. I won’t write it here, but I’m betting you can figure it out. We’re going to stick with Boozy Bakes for now because my students probably read this blog and we should keep everything PG.

Baileys Mudslide Cupcakes

There are three primary elements to these guys: a tender chocolate sponge made with coffee and dark chocolate, a sinfully rich and delicious Baileys pastry cream filling liberally spiked with whiskey and espresso powder, and an American buttercream flavored with coffee liqueur and… you know… sugar. I leaned on a previous sponge recipe as a starting point, the chocolate cake recipe that I used for my Cherry Pie Cupcakes. Check that recipe out here.

Someone take the pastry cream away from me. Seriously.

That Baileys pastry cream in the middle? Guys its so good. So good. After chilling it, I put it in a piping bag to fill my cupcakes and I had to exert a LOT of self-control to keep myself from using that piping bag as a funnel directly into my mouth. Alone in the kitchen, this was a difficult impulse to control. I now know why addicts keep going back. It was just so much more delicious than I was expecting.

This magical Baileys Pastry Cream also gave me a lot of ideas…. I’m pretty basic, so I love Baileys, especially those special seasonal flavors that lurk on the ends of supermarket aisles during the holidays. They are just sitting there waiting for someone like me to wander by. Oh, apple pie flavored Irish cream? Well, I have to buy that, thanks Kroger. I’m thinking this sort of pastry cream will pop up on the blog again. Stay tuned for October and the pumpkin spice variety. I’m very vulnerable to the power of advertising.

Back to the Bailey’s Mudslide Cupcakes, theoretically the reason you clicked on this link.

Elements and Inspiration

A mudslide is an indulgent after-dinner drink that generally incorporates coffee liqueur (like Kahlua), Baileys Irish Cream, and some sort of hard liquor like whiskey or vodka. When I was a waitress, we made ours with ice cream. I was always fairly annoyed when someone ordered this because I then had to go back in the back and scoop ice cream, but there were perks. I would generally scoop the extra out of the blender with a spoon as a mid-shift snack (don’t tell my boss), and it cost like twelve dollars, so it was a great tip boost.

This cupcake incorporates those three flavors (chocolate, coffee, and….well…booze) into one indulgent dessert experience. Get yourself a designated driver, make yourself a cocktail to enjoy on the side, and enjoy.

Do these look yummy to you but you hate doing dishes? I’ll make them for you. Email me at kellylikestobake@gmail.com for pricing and details. Also, you have to be in Indianapolis, sorry.

Baileys Mudslide Cupcakes

Chocolate Sponge:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped fine
35 g cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot coffee
100 grams AP flour
150 grams granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pastry Cream:

100 g granulated sugar
15 g cornstarch cornstarch
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 pinch salt
2 egg yolks
100 ml milk
70 ml cream
30 ml Baileys Original Irish Cream
2 T whiskey (I eyeballed this, just go for it.)
1 T butter

Coffee Buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
1/4 C Kahlua or another coffee liqueur

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 12-treat muffin tin with liners and cooking spray.

Make your pastry cream. Combine all of the ingredients except for the whiskey and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook it over a medium heat, whisking frequently. It will take about ten minutes. When it starts to get hot, watch it like a hawk. Whisk constantly. Without warning, it will go from thin and soupy to thick and glossy. Keep whisking while it cooks. When it is thick like pudding, remove from the heat. Immediately whisk in the butter and whiskey. If you want this pastry cream to be technically perfect, you can sieve it to remove any lumps, but I will admit that I did not do this and didn’t have a problem. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly against the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Put it in the freezer for an hour or the fridge for three hours.

Make your chocolate sponge:

While it is chilling, make your cupcakes.

Chop up your chocolate and put it in a large bowl with the cocoa powder. Pour on the HOT coffee (zap it in the microwave if you need to) and whisky whisky until it is all melty and combined. Add the oil and eggs, whisk. Measure in the sugar, salt, extracts, and vinegar, whisk. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, and fold together until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely.

Make your buttercream. I have never managed to make buttercream without getting powdered sugar everywhere, so be prepared. If you know the secret, please tell me.

Whisk the butter in your stand mixer or with a hand mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add half the powdered sugar and whisk until it is incorporated. Add half the Kahlua, the salt, and the vanilla. Whisk until combined. Add the rest of the sugar and the rest of the Kahlua. Whisk until it is completely combined, light and fluffy. Adjust the texture by adding more liquor or more sugar as needed.

Put the pastry cream and the buttercream in (separate) piping bags.

Assemble your Baileys Mudslide Cupcakes!

It is time to assemble your Baileys Mudslide Cupcakes!

Core your cupcakes in order to make room for your pastry cream. I used a small round cutter to punch out a circle, but you can just use a sharp paring knife if you don’t have a cutter. See the video for a demonstration.

Fill each cupcake with the pastry cream. Top with a swirl of the buttercream. Garnish however you choose. Ideas: chocolate covered espresso beans, a drizzle of Hershey’s chocolate sauce, shaved chocolate curls, or a dusting of cocoa powder. Take a picture for instagram so you can show off to your friends, don’t count the calories, and enjoy.