Triple Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes

Its that time of the month when all my thoughts turn toward chocolate and I had a cupcake recipe I wanted to try. The last time I made it, I used instant chocolate pudding mix. I find that the instant (vs cook and serve) pudding doesn’t have as much flavor and, since Michelle makes an awesome Cook and Serve Chocolate Pudding Mix, I used a half cup of that instead.

The resulting cupcakes are a little denser than those made with the instant but the chocolate flavor was amazing.

I did a mint chocolate frosting to use the bag of Bailey’s Irish Cream Baking Chips I had gotten at Easter and never used. As the frosting only called for half a bag, I put the other half in the cupcakes along with ½ cup of bittersweet chocolate chips.

Super delicious with just a hint of hint. The mint and bittersweet baking chips give an extra umph of chocolate, making these incredibly satisfying.

Cupcakes
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate pudding mix (½ cup)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Mint Chocolate Frosting

½ cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons peppermint schnapps (I used Leroux)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup Bailey’s mint baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pudding mix.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix until smooth.

Add half of the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture and combine. Pour in milk and mix until incorporated. Add the other half of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the chocolate chips to the batter and mix in by hand.

Fill each cup about 2/3 full with batter. I used a ¼ cup measuring cup to portion out the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove cupcakes from the oven. Let cool in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

While the cupcakes are cooling, beat butter, schnapps, vanilla and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat cocoa and, once that is combined, stir in mint baking chips.

If frosting stiffens up too much before using, add in another teaspoon of milk and stir to loosen it back up.

Apple Pie Cocktail

What is a more American way to celebrate the 4th of July than with an Apple Pie cocktail?

I had planned to use apple schnapps but decided to go a different route after talking to the very friendly folks at Martin Wine Cellar about different options (who knew there is apple bourbon?) and exchanging recipes.

Make the apple pie spice sugar by mixing ¼ cup white sugar with 1 tablespoon apple pie spice. If you don’t have apple pie spice, mix 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice and use 1 tablespoon of the resulting mix.

I made up a pitcher ahead of time and kept it cool in the fridge, so I could enjoy the time with my guests instead of playing bartender.

It is strong, so I wouldn’t recommend more than a couple drinks a person but it sure is tasty with the apples, cinnamon spice and everything nice.

2 parts chilled vodka
1 ½ part apple cider
½ part Fireball cinnamon whiskey
3 drops Old Forester Smoked Cinnamon Bitters

apple pie spiced sugar

Cut an apple into thin wedges. Run a slice around the glass rims and then lightly coat the edges in the apple pie spiced sugar. Drop the apple wedge into the glass.

Stir the vodka, apple cider and Fireball together. Mix in the bitters and pour into the apple pie spiced sugar rimmed glasses.

Sweet Hot Root Beer BBQ Sauce

I’ve got a cookout scheduled for Monday and wanted to get my BBQ sauce game on ahead of time. I made a batch of my Sweet Hot Root Beer BBQ Sauce using Abita Root Beer. I prefer Abita for the flavor but also because they use cane sugar instead of corn syrup. If you don’t have Abita where you live, look for a root beer made from cane sugar.

I also used Penzy’s Black and Red spice. It is a mix of black pepper and cayenne pepper. If you don’t have it, use 1 teaspoon black pepper and up to 1 teaspoon cayenne, depending on how much heat you want. The heat will mellow during the long simmer, so do your taste testing then before deciding on more cayenne.

Like any good Southern gal, I keep my BBQ sauce in a mason jar. It doesn’t stain like plastic can and is easy to pour out what you need. The rich, sweet heat of this sauce goes well on most all kinds of meat. I’ll be serving it with beef brisket but it is terrific on ribs, too.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons tomato paste
One 12-ounce bottle Abita Root Beer
½ cup cider vinegar
⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Penzys Black and Red Spice
1 teaspoon kosher salt

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and continue to cook for 5 minutes more. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer over medium low heat for about 15 minutes, until the flavors have blended. Drop heat to low and continue cooking until the sauce thickens, 20 to 30 minutes more. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and more pepper if desired.

Let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes or so. Puree in a blender to smooth. Let cool completely before using – I think it tastes better the next day anyway. The sauce will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.