Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes

Today was super fun and so I wanted to share with you! My cooperating teacher was out for the day and so I got to teach all day long! It was exhausting, but also fun.  And now, I am so ready to tell you about these guys: 

I started off my day with a few meetings about Algebra and Geometry with the other teachers who teach those topics.  Then, it was time for Algebra 2.  I had a substitute in the room, but she really let me take the lead and just sat back.  Today’s first lesson was about graphing in three dimensions.  With some handy manipulatives, students explored graphing in three dimensions with their groups.  Following a brief discussion about graphing 3-D things on a 2-D sheet of paper (things can get messy) we took a quick activity break. 

I led a “group juggle” activity.  In this activity, the entire class juggles three objects.  Every person throws a stuffed animal or other soft object to someone else and, following the same order, you try and get three or more objects flying through the air without crashing or dropping.  This is a good way to get people saying names and since I am fairly new, I was trying my best to learn all their names!  Also, the challenge of not getting confused or dropping any objects makes it a fun challenge for the students. 

After our 5-minute break, the students returned to their seats for the next lesson: The Cooling Corpse! IN this lesson, students use exponential relationships to solve a murder mystery.  The students acted out the murder story and then got to work in their teams.  They got to be detectives and use math to figure out who the murderer was.  It was so fun to see them get into this and learn more about exponential relationships.  It was a fun class all around.  Plus, the next class was the same thing! I got to do this all again, but better because I had already practiced it once!

After a long day, it was time for lunch and a little planning time before working out and then returning home for dinner.  PHEW!

Now, I am watching Pretty Little Liars (great show) and getting ready to share an amazing recipe that I made recently: Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes.  I brought these in for my teacher friends and they were an instant hit! These cupcakes were absolutely delicious!

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes (adapted from Recipe Girl)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tbsp cake flour

2 3/4 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

10 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare enough cupcake pans for 24 cupcakes.

2. In a small bowl, mix the chocolate chips with the 1/2 tbsp of flour.  Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.   

4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and greek yogurt with both sugars until well combined.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla.  

5. Alternate adding the flour and Baileys starting and ending with the flour until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Fill cupcake wells almost to the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool.

6. Make the frosting: beat the butter until light and fluffy.  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar.  Beat in the Baileys and vanilla.  Frost cooled cupcakes.

Enjoy :)

Don Thomas Coffee Party-Raspberry Mocha Mousse

I LOVE COFFEE.

I am totally addicted and so when the lovely ladies of Foodie Friends Friday announced that we could get a free sample of Don Thomas Coffee, I was totally in!  This coffee is fantastic.  I used it to make a Raspberry Mocha Mousse and then my friend Casey brewed it and added Salted Caramel Creamer to make one delicious cup of coffee.  This party is all about coffee, so link up your favorite recipes that use coffee and enjoy!

Raspberry Mocha Mousse (adapted from Julia Child's Mousse)

Ingredients:
2 eggs, separated
6 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Raspberry Liqueur
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp strong coffee (I used Don Thomas Coffee)
6 tbsp salted butter, softened
1/2 tbsp sugar

Directions:
1.  Prepare a pot of simmering water over the stove and a pot of ice water on the counter.
2.  In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until stiff and pale in color.  Beat in the Raspberry Liqueur.  Beat this mixture over the simmering water for 3-4 minutes.  Mixture will look foamy.
3.  Move the bowl and beat the mixture over the ice water for another 3-4 minutes.  Mixture will thicken, lighten in color, and resemble mayo.
4.  In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate and coffee over the simmering water.  Once melted, remove from heat and stir in the butter until combined.  Beat the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
5.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until a soft peak forms.  Beat in 1/2 tbsp sugar until a stiff peak forms, about 3-4 minutes.  Fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture until combined.  Fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
6.  Pour the mousse into individual cups and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Enjoy plain or top with some fresh whipped cream!

Enjoy :)


Last week a bunch of lucky winners won great prizes from the sponsors of our Thanksgiving Party!

And here are the winner's from last week's party!

Most Votes:

1. Cranberry Orange Muffins

2. Simple Scottish Shortbread

3. Cinnamon Honey Butter

Most Clicked:

1. Simple Scottish Shortbread

2. Bikini Tanned Turkey

3. Cranberry Orange Muffins

This week is sponsored by Don Thomas Coffee!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar http://www.alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com

Jutta at HungryLittleGirl http://www.hungrylittlegirl.com/

Kelly at http://www.adornedwell.blogspot.com/

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings: : http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

White Chocolate Raspberry Tipsy Cupcakes

Do you know how you know when you have a great boyfriend?

This weekend Bri came to visit me in Madison and not only did he bring me a present, but when I asked him what he wanted to do during the day on Saturday, he said, "Lets make tipsy cupcakes!"

Yup, he's pretty awesome!

Plus, for my birthday he had this apron made:

So, I got on my awesome apron and we got to work on making some Tipsy Cupcakes!  I love my Intoxicated Cupcakes book and I've already made Mojito Cupcakes and Champagne Cupcakes. We decided on White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes.  They came out beautifully and we had a ton of fun making them together! I love when he visits me here and I love baking so it was just an amazing weekend!

We brought these cupcakes over the my friend Tamara's house to watch the Badger Game with her family.  IT turned out the be pretty good that we had the cupcakes, because after the disappointing defeat, we all wanted something to cheer us up! What could be better than cupcakes with booze?

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes (adapted from Intoxicated Cupcakes)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup raspberry liqueur
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
For the Frosting:
1 8 oz package light cream cheese
3 tbsp unsalted buter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-4 tsp raspberry liqueur
3 drops red food coloring (optional)
raspberries for topping (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a cupcake pan with 24 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combined flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, butter, liqueur and chocolate chips until creamy (except for the chocolate chips).  Add in the flour mixture and beat until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cups so that they are 3/4 full.  Bake for 18-22 minutes and then let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Make the frosting: beat the butter and cream cheese until well combined and fluffly.  Beat in the sugar and then the vanilla.  Add in 2 tsp of the liqueur and then add more depending on taste preference.  Add in food coloring to get pink frosting! Frost the cupcakes and then top with a raspberry.

Enjoy :)

If you want more information on how to get a custom apron made, just shoot me an e-mail and I can send you some ideas! Also, be on the lookout