Bourbon and Coke Cupcakes

As a Kentuckian, I am obligated to be a fan of certain things, one of which is bourbon. As a fat kid, I also am quite a fan of cupcakes. Combine the two, and my Kentucky fat kid heart is as happy as can be.

Bourbon and Coke Cupcakes! 

 

 The recipe I used for this is a combo of three different recipes, with my own little twist on each.

 
 First, for the cupcake, I used my aunt's recipe for Coca-Cola cake, and just made it in cupcake form. The recipe:

2c Flour
2c Sugar
2 sticks butter
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 c Coca-Cola (or Pepsi in my version)
1/2 c buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c mini marshmallows
1 tsp baking soda

Mix flour and sugar. Heat butter, Coke, cocoa, and marshmallows until it boils. Pour over flour and sugar mixture. Mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs, soda,  and vanilla. Beat well. Pour into cupcake liners, bake at 350 for 20ish minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

 

 Once they've cooled, use a piping tip and press and twist it into the center of each cupcake, making a little hole to fill with the dark chocolate bourbon ganache.














Dark Chocolate Bourbon Ganache:

• 12 ounces dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup bourbon

1. Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set aside.
2. Heat heavy cream until just boiling.  Pour over chocolate.
3. Cover chocolate and cream for 2 minutes to allow chocolate to soften.  Uncover and stir with whisk until smooth and silky.
4. Stir in butter until fully incorporated.
5. Stir in bourbon until fully incorporated, cool completely.

 When I was making this the first time, a straw fell out of the cabinet and landed on the bowl. Let me tell you, it was soooo hard not to drink the entire bowl. It's that good.  

   

Filling the cupcakes

Finally, top the cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Butter Cream! 

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Butter Cream

• 12 tbsp butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp Bourbon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 package cheesecake flavor pudding
• 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Bourbon Ganache

1. On medium high, cream the butter, cocoa, and salt for 3 minutes.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, bourbon, and vanilla.
3. Mix on low just until incorporated and then beat on medium-high for 2 minutes, until smooth.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stream in the ganache, heavy cream and pudding mix with the mixer running on low.
5. After most of the liquid has mixed in, slowly increase the speed of the mixer to medium high and beat for ~2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
6. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

After I iced the cupcakes, I drizzled some of the extra ganache on top and made them look all pretty. So, so yummy! I can't wait to share them! 

I show my belly to the judges.

The music part of this starts two Alanas and a line below here. Don't say I didn't give you a heads up if you choose to wade through the nonsense that comes before. 

I may have made the coffee a little too strong today....

I have spent an exorbitant amount of time scouring the internets looking for a gif of Alana saying "My go go juice is (insert gasping breath) kickin in right now" that would really show exactly how I feel at this moment, but I got nothing, so the best I could do was this one. I guess I could have just put the whole video here and told you that, if for some incomprehensible, strange reason you don't want to watch the entire thing for what has to be the tenth time today (no? that's only me?), then you can jump ahead to  3:46 and just watch her say it there..........Screw it, here it is anyway:

You're welcome.

I swear, this blog did start out with the intention of being a place to review/share music. Somehow it has evolved into a maelstrom of my crazy with a kickass soundtrack. But really, that's kind of my life, so it works. Way more people read this craziness now than they did when I was trying to be legit, so I'm just going to go with it. It takes way too much effort to fight it, anyway.

________________________________________________________________

I have been so bored with music lately. I've been craving something new for my ears to obsess over about as much as I've been craving a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks (because I am too lazy and too cheap to actually go out of my way and go to Starbucks and get one, and the one time that I actually did try to get one was when I was in DC and there was a Starbucks in my hotel and Madre was with me and was going to pay for it, eliminating my cheap and lazy excuses, but per my usual luck they were out and I was hit with a bout of devastation that was only cured by a white chocolate mocha and successfully Moses'ing my Old Lady Travel Crew to Arlington on my first trip on the Metro.)

Soooo, this week brought me great joy when I saw that there were a few new albums that had the potential to fill the void. Papa Roach dropped The Connection and The Wallflowers added a stream of their new album that comes out next week, called Glad All Over, to their website. I listened to both and was equally unimpressed. Three Days Grace's newest release, Transit of Venus, also came out this week, and after I was three songs into streaming it, I knew I had to have it and bought it right then.     

"Chalk Outline" is the first single off the album and it has been on the radio for a while now, and as I already mentioned it in an earlier blog I won't take up space here by showing you the video again -- though it is a really good song and totally worth a listen. There are just too many other good songs to share. Here are my favorites from Transit of Venus: 

Three Days Grace--Sign of the Times

The first track on the album, this song really sets the tone for the rest that follow. It has that classic TDG sound, but there is just a different vibe to it.


Three Days Grace-- The High Road

 This is, without a doubt, my favorite song from the album. There are some lyrics that I hear and they just hit me, and whether or not I relate, I find their cleverness and and literary (i think i can go as far as saying literary, right?) power so strong that they just stick with me. The chorus of this song does that to me.

"I'll do whatever it takes to be the mistake you can't live without."

  

 Like, seriously? Whoa. Why can't I think of lines like that? Instead I'm writing blogs with Honey Boo Boo quotes as titles. Oh, life.

But seriously, I listened to this on repeat for close to three hours the other day as I was driving home. It's just perfect "Kelli" music. Maybe a little on the girly side, as it is a bit lovey/ballady, but I think it is pretty great.

Three Days Grace-- Give In to Me

The last song that I want to feature is actually a cover, but I never would have known that if not for the world's most reliable source of information, Wikipedia. I was a little surprised to learn that it was actually a Michael Jackson song.  I was even more surprised, ok, actually I was flat-out shocked to find that though I really like the TDG version, I like the Michael version better.

Michael Jackson-- Give In to Me

After watching this video, I really think I need a wind machine. And Slash to just follow me around, shredding out a kickass solo every time i walk in a room and playing the soundtrack to my daily life. I'd be the coolest girl EVER. 


Overall, it's a great album, and if you're a fan of Three Days Grace, then I'd say it's a must-have.

And, if anyone has a giant wind machine or access to Slash, I'd appreciate the hookup.