Updated

Irish coffee is a favorite after-dinner drink around here, especially on cold winter nights. You can make an Irish coffee with heavy cream and Irish whiskey, but we think it’s essential to use Bailey’s Irish Cream in this drink. We soak the cupcake with coffee-flavored Kahlúa, and we insist on having Bailey’s in the frosting.

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Prep Time:

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Servings: 12

Ingredients:

2 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 Large eggs, broken into a small bowl

2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted through a strainer

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

Pinch of salt

1 cup Kahlúa or another coffee-flavored liqueur

Preparation:

Place a baking rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 6-cup jumbo-size muffin pans with liners and set aside.

Place a strainer over a medium-size mixing bowl and sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium-size mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beating on low speed, mixing just until all of the dry ingredients are completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Fill each prepared muffin cup with a rounded 1/3 cup batter, about 3/4 full. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the tops are just firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Leave the cupcakes in the pan on a rack to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack to cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour.

In a large-size mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, reduce the speed to medium, and add half of the confectioners’ sugar, Bailey’s, and salt, beating to incorporate.

Add the rest of the confectioners’ sugar, beating on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until very smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Slowly spoon 1 to 11/2 tablespoons of Kahlúa over the top of each cupcake. Let them sit for 10 minutes to allow the Kahlúa to be absorbed.

Then get out that ice cream scoop (2 to 21/4 inches in diameter) and top each cupcake with a generous rounded scoop of frosting. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container, or frozen for 1 month.