Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes

Bailey's on the rocks is used to be one of my favorite drinks in the bar. Being a Bailey's lover, it makes me smile when I found this cupcake recipe.

I modified the recipe by substituting some all purpose flour with cake flour to hopefully get a lighter texture. Also, I couldn't find any baking powder so I used baking soda and added 2 parts of cream tartar with 1 part of baking soda. Some cakes turned out a bit ugly on the first batch but the second batch looked all fine. Wondering if it had anything to do with the chemical reaction with the leavening of the batter.

The cake definitely smells and tastes of baileys but the sweetness of the icing sugar was overpowering the baileys flavor. But with more icing sugar, the icing is a bit harder so it looks prettier after piping. Not sure how to get the perfect balance between presentation and taste. I added some pink coloring on the icing and not completely mixed it so the roses look more natural on the cuppies.

This one is just to practice piping one of my favorite piping styles.

Makes 12 cupcakes

For the Bailey's cupcakes
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
85g butter, at room temperature
1 whole egg + 1 egg white, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

For the Bailey's buttercream
115g butter
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line muffin tins with 12 cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. In another bowl, use electric mixer to cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add egg and egg white one at a time, beating on low between each addition. Add vanilla.
5. Add flour mixture slowly in 3 additions, alternating with Bailey's, starting and ending with flour.
6. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake 15-17 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. For the frosting, beat butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until completely mixed. Add the Bailey's and beat until well combined.
8. Poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes and brush some Bailey's on each before frosting.
9. Load frosting into a piping bag and decorate as desired.

Adapted from http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2011/03/baileys-irish-cream-cupcakes.html#uds-search-results