It was a harsh reality dragging myself out of bed this morning...in the dark! Ah daylight savings! How are you handling it today? I absolutely loved the fact that it didn't get totally dark out last night until after 7pm. Shaun and I went for a long walk in the sunshine around 4pm yesterday and it was great. The streets were bustling, the sun was shining, the weather was perfection. I'm looking forward to leaving work tonight in the daylight!
I think we ALL need a treat this morning...you know, in order to properly adjust. I made you one.
So this coming Saturday is St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish. But I don't care, I'm still down to wear green things and eat copious amounts of corned beef and cabbage and Irish cream laden desserts. Everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, don't you think?
This weekend, I made a little snack to share with you. I didn't dye anything green, but I did use some nice Irish alcohol in my dessert. I had made these Irish car bomb cupcakes a few years back and they were such a hit that I thought it would be fun to test out another dessert with chocolate, Irish stout and Irish cream. Enter these cute little mini cakes, loaded with buttercream.
Shaun proclaimed this one of my top 3 desserts of all time. I'm not sure what the other two are on that list, but I have to agree with him.
Oh!
And the super duper fantastic supercalifragilisticexpialidocious part? They are just 4 Points+ per cake (I didn't tell him this until after he ate one) AND they are incredibly easy. Yeahhh buddy!
Chocolate Stout Mini Cakes with Irish Cream Frosting
Makes 30 cakes; 4 WW Points+ per cake
for the chocolate stout mini cakes:
1 box Supermoist chocolate cake mix
1 box chocolate sugar-free fat-free instant Jell-o pudding mix
3/4 C Guinness draught
1/2 C applesauce
3 eggs
for the Irish cream frosting
1/2 C butter, softened (1 stick)
2 C confectioners sugar
2-3 Tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
splash (or two) of milk
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, Guinness, applesauce and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer ready. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then on medium-high for 2 minutes until all ingredients are completely combined and fluffy.
Using a tablespoon-sized mellon baller/ice cream scooper, drop heaping tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet, into a greased whoopie pie pan. I used both methods and the ones from the whoopie pie pan came out a little cuter and nicely shaped, however, if you don't have one it's no thang. A baking sheet works totally fine.
Bake for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly on pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, beat the butter until totally soft and fluffy. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, thinning out with the Bailey's and vanilla as it beats. Add milk if you'd like to make it thinner. This frosting is very strong Bailey's flavor, and so if you don't like that so much, use less Bailey's and more milk. Frost cooled cakes and top with sprinkles of choice.
Eat many, immediately.
Give some to friends. Give some to your building concierge. I did. They liked them.
You will too. I promise.
Questions of the Day:
Do you prefer it to be dark in the morning and light at night? Or vice versa? I think I prefer it this way!
Do you look forward to any Irish-themed eats for St. Patrick's Day?
For more St. Pat's recipes, please see:
Irish Oat Cake + Irish Cream Frosting
Irish Soda Bread (my favorite one ever!)
Beer Braised Corned Beef & Cabbage
