Lush Life

To be a lush chef, does not mean to drink in excess - this can result in scary fires and bad dishes. A lush chef is one who enjoys gourmet cooking/baking, often with fresh ingredients and the smart use of one's home bar. If there happens to be half a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, or a sip of brandy left over...well, one cannot be wasteful. I give you permission to imbibe.

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The Lush Chef
Twitter: @thelushchef Provenance: Santa Monica Dish: Coq au Vin Spirit: Whiskey Wine: Malbec Beer: Hefeweizen Farmer's Market: Santa Monica on Main Street
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Dec 20, 2012

Chocolate Eggnog Cupcakes


Libations used: 1 1/2 tsp bourbon...
Libations left over: Add some bourbon to a warm cup of eggnog...
I have been on a baking spree this month.  Thank goodness I have tons of amazing people in my life to give all these sweet treats too.  My co-workers were the lucky recipients of these Chocolate Eggnog Cupcakes adapted from Completely Delicious.  The cake includes coffee to really bring out the chocolate flavor.  I brewed up a small pot of some French Roast coffee, and actually used a little less in this recipe so the batter wouldn't be too runny.  For the buttercream, I added some of my homemade eggnog, which was already spiced with vanilla bean, nutmeg and cinnamon.  If you can use homemade eggnog, as opposed to store-bought, your buttercream will just have this richer, more complex flavor.  I added in my favorite Bulleit bourbon for a boozy kick, but feel free to use cognac, dark rum or brandy.  To give these cupcakes an added holiday flair, sprinkle a little nutmeg and white sanding sugar on top for spice and sparkle.
Chocolate Eggnog Cupcakes - makes 16-18
Ingredients for the cake:
  • 1/2 cup hot coffee
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup and 2 Tbs sour cream
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Ingredients for the buttercream:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tsp bourbon (I used Bulleit)
  • 2-4 Tbs eggnog (I used 2)
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder until it's smooth.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg, egg yolk and sugar and mix on medium-high speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture is a pale yellow.
- Add the sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Add the vegetable oil and combine well.
- Add all of the flour mixture and mix until well combined.
- Add the coffee and chocolate mixture and combine well, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter and bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

To make the buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter.
- Add the powdered sugar, salt, nutmeg, vanilla and bourbon.
- Add the eggnog 1 Tbs at a time on medium-high speed, until desired consistency.
- Increase the speed to high and beat for a couple of minutes until it's smooth.
- Frost the cupcakes and garnish with more nutmeg, white or silver sanding sugar, chocolate or snowflake sprinkles (get creative)!

2 comments:

Jake Kaminsky said...

I just made these cupcakes and they were superb! I actually added a bit more booze to the icing for added bite, but this was mostly because I couldn't get my eggnog game together all the way. Also, I mixed the icing in the same bowl where I'd made the cupcakes themselves so that some of the residual chocolate would mix in. Great recipe! I look forward to trying others on this site. Plus, I made myself a decent Hurricane while baking, so the whole process was just a treat.

The Lush Chef said...

So glad you enjoyed, Jake! Can't wait to hear how you like some of the other recipes.