Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Irish Coffee Cupcakes, Spiked With Jameson Irish Whiskey!

Since we are only a few weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to re-share my recipe for Irish Coffee Cupcakes!  I should probably re-take my photos, but I love how they turned out and can’t bring myself to do it.  Haha!  Let me know if you make these and how you like them in the comments!

I am not sure you can get more Irish that these Irish Coffee Cupcakes!  They are a perfect balance of chocolate, coffee, cream and whiskey.  They remind me tiramisu, but somehow even better.  I don’t really brag on my own recipes and cooking and I try to get multiple opinions on recipes before I post.  These passed all the tests with flying colors!

The Irish have a culture of drinking and distilling whiskey.  So, when I was trying to come up with a St. Patrick’s Day recipe to share, I knew I wanted to incorporate whiskey into it.  Immediately my mind went to Irish coffee and the idea was born.  I am a huge coffee drinker and since I also love chocolate I knew that I could create something fantastic with the right ingredients.

Traditional Irish coffee has coffee, whiskey, cream and brown sugar.  I just love chocolate and felt like the cake portion would blend well with those flavors to create the perfect, light, but scrumptious, cupcake.  The best part about this cupcake is that it is so easy to whip up.  I am a firm believer in using cake mixes and making them taste like homemade.

Normally, I am not a fan of whipped icing.  It is a sure fire way to keep me from eating a cake.  However, I knew I wanted a fresh whipped cream base for the icing on these since that is what the topping is on Irish Coffee.  I am so happy to tell you, that this particular icing, is fantastic and won’t leave you wishing for buttercream.  🙂

I am not an Irish whiskey expert.  But I do buy it as a gift for my boyfriend sometimes. (Can you really ever go wrong with a bottle of alcohol? Bahaha!)  Jameson is the typical go-to gift, and it never disappoints, although lately he has been loving the Old Forrester Rye.  I have bought him several whiskey types over the last year or so, including a bottle of The Sexton and apparently it is really good too!  I just really loved the bottle.  Haha!   I would say if you have a favorite, you can use whatever you prefer.

As a side note, I always chuckle when I go into the liquor store.  My Mama, a southern Baptist that never drank, would occasionally need alcohol for a recipe and she would say, “What if someone sees me going in there to buy liquor?”.  My sister and I would just laugh and reply, if they are in the ABC Store, they won’t tell anyone cause they will have to admit they were there too.  Ah, so many good memories with her.

Irish Coffee Cupcakes

Cake

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix

1 cup of strong brewed coffee

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup sour cream

Blend cake mix with other ingredients until the batter is thick and smooth.  Using a 1/4 cup, place the batter into paper lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Irish Whiskey Icing

3 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup Irish whiskey

1 tablespoon instant espresso

3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

Dissolve the espresso in the whiskey.  Begin beating the whipping cream in a chilled bowl.  Once it is frothy, add the whiskey/espresso mix and the sugar.  Continue to beat until stick peaks form.  I use a knife and remove the very center of the cupcake and discard, creating a well in the center of each cupcake.  Using a piping bag, fill the center of the cupcake with the icing and then pipe the icing on the top of each.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup, if desired.  Cupcakes must be kept in the fridge.  I think making them the night before is even better.

I hope you enjoy these as you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or anytime you get a craving for an Irish Coffee Cupcake.  You could convert this to a trifle and make it even easier too.  I may do that soon and report back!  Thank you so much for stopping by today!