Boozy #1 - moist, dark chocolate cupcakes with Baileys Irish Cream frosted with dark chocolate ganache, also with Baileys. My first foray into boozy cupcakes and still my favorite!

It all started with the boozy flourless chocolate cakes that Abe and I baked for our company's bake-off. Apparently, chocolate and alcoholic beverages went really well together. We used amaretto and cognac. Then I thought, why not Baileys? It's quite sweet and will probably go well with chocolate cupcakes. I didn't have any recipe nor did I look for one. I'll just hack it, I thought. So I did. If it goes wrong, oh well, better luck next try. It went awesome!

Since then, I've baked these cupcakes a number of times - during celebrations and whenever I'm not feeling up for a new recipe. I use the chocolate cupcake recipe HERE but I replace the buttermilk with equal parts Baileys. The cupcakes are still very moist like their "virgin" counterpart, albeit softer in texture. They are always a hit! You can kinda smell the Baileys on the cupcakes but it's not an unpleasant kind of smell. The cake is dark chocolate through and through and then you get a little kick of Baileys at the end. Honestly, I can eat at least half a dozen of these cupcakes in one sitting.

For this version, I used a simple dark chocolate ganache (equal parts chocolate and heavy cream, I used 8 ounces) spiked with two (2) tablespoons of Baileys too. Sometimes, I use chocolate Swiss buttercream frosting. A new piping technique - small rosettes, and I was quite pleased. Some cupcakes I dipped in ganache first before piping on the rosettes.

I baked these for M and my 4th anniversary together. I bought candles. Haha! Here are a few more photos and a cross-section too! Enjoy!