The Beginnings of "What I..." Wednesdays

For my blog, I wanted to come up with some themes for certain days of the week.  Sometimes it's hard coming up with random things to talk about, so having a theme will give me somewhere to begin (and also keep me more accountable for posting).  Accountability is huge because, since my blog is in its beginning stages, it's all too tempting to say, "Eh, I don't have time tonight."  But, one of the reasons I began a blog was to prove to myself that I really do have time to "do it all"... or, at least, do more than I have been.  My biggest sin of the deadly seven is definitely sloth, and I want that to change!

Source:  http://www.funny-joke-pictures.com/2013/07/funny-lazy-people-fact-quote-picture.html

I've already dabbled in a "Music Mondays" theme, which I plan to continue, but, for my newest idea, I kind of stole a concept from my blogging bestie Kristin.  She does a themed post called "What I Wear."  Since I am ABUNDANTLY CERTAIN that NO ONE in the history of EVER wants fashion advice from me, I decided that, for me, following that theme would be counter-productive for both me and my readers.  Perhaps, in the future, if I can begin dressing well enough that my sisters stop threatening to nominate me for What Not to Wear, then, maybe, just maybe, I will consider it.  Until then, I think I can produce far more interesting posts with a theme I am calling "What I..." Wednesdays.  I am calling it "What I..." Wednesdays because depending on the week or what mood I'm in or just what's on my mind, I might blog about "What I Watch," "What I Ate/Cooked/Baked," "What I Think," "What I Did," etc.  This keeps my theme flexible enough to allow creativity, yet firm enough to give me direction.

So, for this week, I decided to go with "What I Baked."

Two years ago, for my husband's birthday, I made him a cake.  It was a simple, store-bought, mix-from-a-box, icing-from-a-can cake.  He thought it was the greatest thing in the world.  If that was amazing to him, I knew I could totally make his mind explode the following year by making him a bona-fide, from scratch cake.  When I told him my plan, he went on a grand search of the interwebs to find the cake of his dreams, and find it he did.  He found several websites with recipes for a chocolate cake involving Guinness in the batter and Baileys in the frosting.  After looking back and forth between several different versions of the recipe, we finally settled on one we thought was a nice middle-of-the-road version:  not too much butter, not too little butter, not a whole bag of powdered sugar, but not a pittance of powdered sugar... that kind of deal.  And this is the recipe, I used:  Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Buttercream.

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

This year, when my husband requested cake for his birthday, I asked him if he'd like this one again, and he answered with a resounding yes.  However, as delicious as this cake is, it is ridiculously rich and ridiculously fattening (considering that, with the two of us, we'd have to eat the whole thing in a matter of days before it went bad), and my husband and I are trying hard to watch what we eat (we have both lost weight since having our son, and we would like to keep doing so, so we can enjoy a long, happy life with him).  So, I got the genius idea of trying to make this cake in cupcake form.  I feel like, with cupcakes being packaged in a smaller serving by nature, they allow for more portion control.

While this original recipe makes a 12-slice cake, the cupcake version I made, makes 24 cupcakes, which essentially cuts the fat and calorie content per serving in half (if you can stop at just one cupcake).  Also, cupcakes are easier to share and give away.  In fact, out of the 24 cupcakes I baked, we have already given away 13 of them, so with that, we will be consuming half as many calories and half as much fat as we would have, had we made, hoarded, and inhaled the entire cake ourselves like we did last year.  Cupcakes = Portion-Controlled Cake = Happy Chubby People Who Can Have the Best of Both Worlds.

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

Clearly I am a bit behind on getting my husband his birthday cupcakes (his birthday is in May), but better late than never I say.  So, here it is, the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Buttercream recipe you've all been waiting for... only in cupcake form! :)  Check out the original here if you'd like a double-layer cake, or follow the modified recipe below if you'd like 24 cupcakes, but either way, follow one of them if you'd like absolute cake bliss to happen in your mouth.  ENJOY!  :)

Photo Credit:  Katharine Clark, 2014

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream

(Inspired by and Adapted from Prevention RD)

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Cake:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter


3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa


1 cup Guinness Extra Stout


1 Tbsp vanilla extract


1 1/2 cups sugar


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

Buttercream:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp Bailey’s

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat and whisk in Guinness, vanilla extract, and cocoa. Set aside to cool.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking soda). Pour the Guinness mixture onto the dry ingredients, then whisk in the 2 eggs. Pour evenly into cupcake liners.*

Bake for about 19 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, whip together the softened butter and sugar using a mixer for the buttercream, adding in just enough Bailey’s to get it loose and fluffy. Whip for 5-10 minutes, or until fluffy and light.

Once the cakes are done baking, cool completely before frosting the cupcakes.**

If you want the cupcakes to look extra cute for a special occasion, add some edible embellishments.  I found some semi-sweet chocolate chips in my pantry, so I decided to decorate a few of the cupcakes for some added pizzazz. 

Nutrition Information

(per cupcake)*** 

240.5 calories; 13.65 g. fat; 20 mg. cholesterol; 57 mg. sodium; 28.85 g. carbohydrate; 1 g. fiber; 1.45 g. protein

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*I only have a 12-cupcake baking pan, so I had to do this in two separate batches; having two pans and being able to do this in one fell swoop would have ensured that the cupcake batter was more evenly distributed, and, therefore, would lead to more consistent cupcake size, shape, etc.

**Again, prepping all 24 cupcakes at once would have provided a significant advantage.  Because I ran short on icing when I made this in cake form originally, I skimped on the icing for the first 12 cupcakes due to a fear of running out.  I ended up having leftover icing at the end because I skimped a bit too much; however, because I had added semi-sweet chocolate chips to the tops of some of the cupcakes, I could not go back and re-distribute the leftover icing, so I was left with about an extra 1/2 cup of frosting that is now sitting in my fridge.

***I calculated these nutrition statistics using figures posted on the original post.  Since the original recipe yielded 12 slices of cake, and this recipe yielded 24 cupcakes, I split all of the figures in half.  The writer of the original post states on her blog that she is a registered dietician, so I assume she is an expert on such things; however, I am not, so please do not take my re-calculations as gospel (after all, I am an English teacher by day, so Math is not my first language).  Keep in mind that, if you add sprinkles, chocolate chips, or other toppings, these facts will vary.