Guinness Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
with Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I actually made these amazing cupcakes last year for St. Paddy's day, but never got around to finishing this post until the holiday had long since past, so I was waiting until this year to share with everyone.  I am sure most of you have seen recipes like this circulating in the previous days and weeks on social media, and I am sure there are lots of different ways to make Irish liquor infused treats.  This recipe of course uses mostly organic ingredients, a lot of whole wheat flour, high protein Greek yogurt, and antioxidant rich dark cocoa powder.  Of course there is a ton of sugar in the frosting, which is honestly so good you could eat it with a spoon, but this is a dessert after all.  For a holiday.  And they go great with a strong beer, or an Irish coffee!  May the luck of the day be with you all!!

Pumpkin Spice Birthday Cake

In my very first blog post, I included a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Cake that is a definite family favorite.  I have made it in just about every shape, but have never tried it as a three layer cake with cream cheese frosting. One of my first cousins turns forty today, and since I don't see him very often and we happen to be getting together tomorrow for a mini family reunion, I had to bake something.  I asked his wife (since it is always the women who talk the most), whether she thought he would appreciate a cake and if so, what kind is his favorite.  Her reply: "He likes any kind of pumpkin cream cheese icing combo."  Lucky for me, I knew a perfect recipe.

The main reason I am making it as a three layer cake is because I have a nice round cake carrier and we are going to have to travel about four hours in the car tomorrow with the cake. If I have any hope of arriving at my parents' house with the birthday creation in one piece, I figured keeping it securely covered and wedged between items in the trunk of the car is the best bet.  Normally I would try to make a frosting using just low fat cream cheese, but again, since this will be sitting out for so long before serving (planning to arrive right at dinner/ dessert time), I decided to use half butter since butter holds up better at room temperature than cream cheese.  I didn't want my beautiful tower of a cake to become a leaning tower of mush during the trip.

Since this recipe uses all whole grains and nutrient rich pumpkin, it is about as healthy a recipe as you can have for a cake.  Besides the one cup of sugar, (and of course the icing), everything else in it are extremely healthful, but you would never know that by how it tastes.  Even without the frosting, this cake is moist, flavorful and totally satisfying. This is definitely a recipe that allows you to feel good about having your cake and eating it too.