Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting

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Deliciously moist chocolate cupcakes topped with a Baileys Irish Cream frosting. Yum! A cupcake with a kick!

I made this cupcake and frosting combination for the first time back in March for St.Patty’s Day. What’s St.Patrick’s Day without some Baileys Irish Cream? 

I decided to make this delicious combination again this past week because of my Ancestry DNA results. I got them back a couple of weeks ago and turns out I’m more Irish than I thought I was! My DNA results came back and I’m 50% Irish! I thought what better way to celebrate then for me to make this frosting recipe again, and now I know why I love Bailey’s Irish Cream so much!

Now onto the recipe: 

How To Make Chocolate Cupcakes:

First we will make the chocolate cupcake batter. I love this cupcake because it is fluffy and not too rich to balance out the frosting. This recipe is simple and you will only need a whisk and a spatula, no mixer needed for the cupcake batter.

Start by whisking the dry ingredients ( flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) into a large mixing bowl.

Grab a medium size bowl and whisk together the rest of the ingredients, except for the buttermilk (eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla.)

Lastly combine your wet mixture and buttermilk into the dry ingredients a little at a time until everything is combined into the dry mixture that becomes one. Your batter should be runny looking. 

Pour or spoon batter halfway into 12 lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. 

Easy as that!

Now we have addressed how to make these glorious chocolate cupcakes which I could eat alone, let’s talk about the star of the show (THE FROSTING!)

How To Make Baileys Irish Cream Frosting:

This frosting is delicious and strong. I love it but you can reduce the ¼ cup to a few tablespoons and substitute the rest for milk. Or if you’re looking for a non-alcoholic version, substitute all of the Baileys for milk and add a tsp of vanilla extract. Unlike the cupcakes which are baked in the oven to be exact, frosting is pretty relative to taste and consistency for piping, not science. If frosting is too runny add more confectioners sugar, if it is too thick add more Baileys a tablespoon at a time (or milk if making a non-alcoholic version.)

To make the frosting we will start by creaming the butter and cream cheese together in a stand or hand mixer to break up any lumps and make it a uniform consistency between the two. This will take about a minute or two. Once creamed, add powdered sugar and Baileys and whip it up until thick and fluffy. 

Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes whatever way you prefer. If piping, for reference I used a Wilton 1M star tip. This is my go to piping tip. I love the dimension it gives to the cupcake.

Optional: If you’re boujee like me, melt 2 ounces of baking chocolate and pour melted chocolate into a zip lock bag. Cut a small bit off one of the corners of the bag and drizzle back and forth onto your cupcakes to give them an elegant look. (And who doesn’t love more chocolate?)