Erin Fox
These Irish coffee cardamom cupcakes are incredibly rich and just the dessert for St Patrick’s Day. You can use any whiskey of your choice but this recipe has been tried with a Bushmills and Laphroaig. For a non-alcoholic version, omit the whiskey and the syrup from the frosting and instead grind the seeds from five cardamom pods and beat into the mascarpone. You will need:
- 175g / 6oz self-raising flour
- 175g / 6oz butter softened
- 175g / 6oz golden caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ½ tbsp strong coffee cooled
- 1 tbsp milk
- 10 cardamom pods crushed in mortar and pestle
Syrup:
- 2 tbsp strong coffee cooled
- 2 tbsp whiskey
Frosting:
- 250g mascarpone
- 4 tbsp icing sugar sifted
- 4 tbsp whiskey
Shamrocks:
- 50-100g sugar paste
- green food colouring
- miniature heart cutter.
Hearts
To make the shamrocks, dust your surface with icing sugar and roll out the sugarpaste and colour it green. Knead until the colour is even. Roll out the fondant again and stamp out the hearts. With a palette knife, transfer to some greaseproof paper and set aside until needed.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees fan and line a 12 hole cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.
Sieve the flour into a bowl with the ground cardamom seeds. Beat the butter with the sugar for five minutes until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs mixing well after each addition. If the mixture curdles, add one to two tablespoons of the flour and mix to rebind the batter. Fold in the rest of the flour followed by the cooled coffee and the milk.
Divide the batter between the cupcake wrappers, filling each about two thirds full. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until a wooden skewer emerges clean.
When the cupcakes are baking, combine the cooled coffee with the whiskey to make the syrup.
When the cupcakes come out of the oven, prick them all over with a wooden skewer and brush the tops with the syrup. Leave to cool completely and then transfer to the fridge for one hour to firm up.
Meanwhile make the frosting. Beat the mascarpone in a clean bowl with the icing sugar until combined. With the beater on a low speed, gradually add the whiskey just a little bit each time to avoid splitting the frosting.
Swirl the mascarpone onto each cold cupcake with a palette knife. Arrange the green hearts into the shape of a shamrock.