Irish for a Day

Yesterday was St. Patrick's day. My schedule was filled with class, class, and more class. I ate dinner at my parents house. My mom had been cooking corned beef in her crock pot since 8 AM that morning. She used the broth to boil up some cabbage, carrots, green beans, and potatoes. We have this dinner every single year. We do not have one bit of Irish blood in our bodies, but I have a huge love for corned beef. It must be the incredibly salty flavor and how it's so juicy, fatty, and soft when cooked just right. This is one of my favorite dinners during the year and it never disappoints.

Last year I treated myself to a green beer and made some delicious Guinness stout cupcakes with Bailey's frosting. They were ah-mazing! To be honest, I don't like Guinness very much. It's way too heavy and I'd much rather have a nice amber. Regardless, Guinness tastes great in cupcakes for St. Patrick's day. Since I didn't want to have to buy a 6-pack of beer and have all this extra, I decided to change the cupcake recipe. Rather than an Irish car bomb cupcake, I decided to do an Irish coffee cupcake. I have a great recipe for a Black Russian bunt cake (are you sensing a cake theme here?). It is an absolutely delicious cake, so I amended it a bit to have more coffee flavor and be cute little cupcakes. The final product was perfect. A little chocolate coffee flavor from the cake and the sweet touch of Bailey's in the frosting. Topped off with some cute green sprinkles and you have the perfect St. Patty's day treat.

Irish Coffee Cupcakes
Inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Cake:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. Kahlua

Frosting:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 4 Tbsp Bailey's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the cake: Line a muffin pan with 24 cupcake liners. Combine all cake ingredients and beat with a mixer. Fill cupcake cups 1/2 full and bake for 20-22 minutes (rotating half way) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes.

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. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Bailey's 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.

When the cupcake are completely cool, frost with your homemade frosting and decorate with cute green sprinkles. 

**What surprised me today: Every time I leave my house in the morning, I'm never really in a super chipper mood. I probably just woke up 20 minutes ago, haven't eaten anything, and now I have to go to school and sit through lecture. Every morning, I walk by the graveyard of a flower bed, filled with the corpses of my used-to-be bountiful veggie garden. Now all that remains are skeletons of what's left of a basil plant, jalapeno, cucumber, and a beautiful gardenia. I also have the pungent aroma of dog poo wafting over me because my neighbors do not clean up after their new puppy and some mystery animal has decided my driveway would be the perfect place for them to defecate on a daily basis. I ride my bike the 1/4 mile to school, trying my best to avoid the vast obstacle course of potholes, shattered beer bottles, and sorority girls leaving the fraternity houses disheveled and barefoot (heels in hand). This really is definitely not the best way to start your day. Today, I walked out the door and this is what I saw:

It surprised me so much I just had to snap a picture of it. Every morning I go by this tree and for the past few months it has been a mere skeleton. The branches had turned brittle and a stark white, as if it had literally been frozen to the core. All of the leaves were gone and it really was a sad sight. I had no idea if this tree had made it through the frost. I had pretty much forgotten about this tree, given that I see it every day and it looked like it had died. I passed it everyday, but never gave it a second thought, just another plant among the others. But when I saw it this morning, I noticed it was dotted with little splotches of bright green. I leaned my bike against the wall, and went up to take a closer look and it was covered in vibrant green leaves and buds. It seemed so amazing to me that these growths of new life were coming out of branches that looked as if all the life had already been sucked out of them. Though not scientifically correct at all, I envisioned these tiny green buds traversing the treacherous, dark tree branches and persevering to finally emerge, poke their heads out, and feel the sunshine. It reminded me that sometimes you'll find yourself if dark places that you think you'll never get out of, but then Spring comes bringing the sunshine and blue skies and you'll emerge stronger than you were before.