Made with a decadent chocolate base and topped with a sweet Irish cream frosting, these Irish Coffee Cupcakes are so good! If you're a fan of Baileys, you're going to love these.
Why It Works?
Irish cream and chocolate just work. They're longtime friends, amigos forever, compadres for life, you get the idea. So when I decided to pair an Irish cream frosting with my favourite chocolate cake recipe, I knew it would be a match made in heaven. I even went as far as adding warm java to the base, to really enhance the coffee flavour. Could this recipe have worked with a vanilla cupcake base? Sure. But this right-swipe Tinder match just made more sense in my heart. Seriously, they're the chocolate coffee cupcakes of my dreams, topped with a Bailey's buttercream. You just can't get any better than that.
What's an Irish Coffee anyway?
If you have Irish cream liqueur kicking around, now is the time to use it. I made these cupcakes in honour of St. Patrick's Day and they did not disappoint. They honestly make the perfect dessert.
If you have not yet been blessed with the gift of an Irish coffee, I feel very very sorry for you. Regular coffee is essential, but Irish coffee is a real "treat 'yo self" moment. They're comprised of coffee (duh), Irish cream liqueur, sugar and topped with whipped cream. Let's just say that a great mug of Irish coffee is the first thing I want on St. Paddy's day morning.
Special Equipment
The good news here is that you won't need much more equipment than what would be expected from cupcakes. A stand mixer (or handheld), two bowls, a cupcake pan and piping bag about covers it. Even this short list can be shortened further. Don't have a piping bag? No problem. Cut a small corner out of a Ziplock back and off you go.
What You'll Need
I'm not going to pretend that these Irish Coffee Cupcakes come with a short list of ingredients. That's just the way when it comes to making a delicious cupcake from scratch. This being said, if you've made it this far, I'm going to assume you're up for the challenge. These yummy cupcakes are worth it - trust me.
Ingredients:
For the cupcake base:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon finely ground espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cups vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup hot coffee
For the Irish cream frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
How They're Made
This sweet treat may have a long list of ingredients, but as mentioned before, you won't regret the work involved once you taste this moist cupcake. This is especially true if you're also a coffee lover. No special occasion required.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set the cupcake tray aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt and whisk until evenly distributed. Set this bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer using the whisk attachment until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients, warm coffee and the buttermilk into the large dry ingredient bowl. Stir on low until the ingredients are just combined. Please, do yourself a favour and don't over mix the batter. I feel like I say this for every cake recipe, but it's the truth.
- Scoop the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake pan. Do not fully fill the paper liners. I suggest no more than ¾ of the liner. Should you choose to fill them fully, you will be dealing with cupcakes overflow. Proceed at your own risk.
- Bake cupcakes for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely before moving on to the frosting.
- Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat the butter until creamy. Then, add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and Irish cream liqueur. Yes, that's right: it's time to haul out the bottle of Baileys. This is where the magic happens, in my opinion. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, simply add more Irish cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
- Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag and your favourite piping tip. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Make sure you're working with room temperature butter when making the frosting. Believe me when I say that trying to beat butter when it's still as solid as a hockey puck isn't a way of setting yourself up for success.
- Unsure if your cupcakes are ready? Test the center of the cupcakes with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, they're done!
Little Cupcakes, Big Love.
Fun fact: I use to bake cupcakes. Like, a lot of cupcakes. I would bake them for local farmers' markets and catering events. While I don't sell baked goods anymore, cupcakes bring on a whole hell of nostalgia for me. It's a dessert that I'm always happy to revisit.
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Irish Coffee Cupcakes
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer or handheld electric mixer
- 1 12-cup muffin pan
- 1 piping bag optional
- 1 1M piping tip optional
Ingredients
For the cupcake base
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder finely ground
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs large
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup warm coffee
For the frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cupcake base
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and salt and whisk until evenly distributed. Set this bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer using the whisk attachment until smooth.
- Carefully pour the wet ingredients, buttermilk and warm coffee into the dry ingredient bowl. Stir on low until the ingredients are just combined.
- Scoop the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling ¾ of the paper liner.
- Bake cupcakes for 20-22 minutes. Cool completely before moving on to the frosting.
For the frosting
- Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat the butter until creamy. Then, add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and Irish cream liqueur. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, simply add more Irish cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
- Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag and your favourite piping tip. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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