Bourbon Pecan Cupcakes With Bourbon Brown Sugar Buttercream

I was delighted to find out that I am a runner-up in a recipe contest this month, sponsored by  Mississippi Magazine.  I was thoroughly impressed with the beautiful photography of all the recipes.  Each photograph had a "green" element to it (not the term for being environmentally friendly, but the color) such as a plate, napkin or garnish, and this made me particularly happy because green is my favorite color.

Before I post the recipe, let me make an announcement.  My darling daughter and my darling son-in-law are expecting a baby which means I will be a grandmother (gulp).  I am currently brainstorming names for my sweet little grandson to call me;  anything but Grandma, Mee-Maw or Nanna could possibly be in the running.  Something a little more youthful sounding would be nice.  Here is the happy couple at his college graduation yesterday:

Here's the recipe.  Don't worry, the alcohol cooks out.

*Update-All of the alcohol does not cook out like I had initially thought, so please do your research before letting children eat these.

Bourbon-Pecan Cupcakes with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Buttercream

Cupcakes:

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

3 eggs, separated, at room temperature

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup bourbon

1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Bourbon-Brown Sugar Buttercream:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons bourbon

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

Toasted pecan halves for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat the shortening, 1/4 butter, and 1 cup light brown sugar at medium speed in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk and 1/4 cup bourbon, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Stir in 1 cup chopped toasted pecan.  Beat the egg whites at high speed in a medium mixing bowl until stiff.  Gently fold into the cake batter.  Line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.  Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

2.  While cupcakes are baking, heat 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 tablespoons bourbon over medium heat in a medium heavy saucepan, whisking often, until butter melts.  Continue to cook until mixture begins to boil, then boil for one minute, whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and cool completely. 

 3.  In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 cup softened butter on high speed until smooth and fluffy.  Beat in the cooled brown sugar-bourbon mixture until smooth. Beat in 3 cups of powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth.    Frost each cooled cupcake with a generous amount of the frosting.  Top each cupcake with a toasted pecan half.  Refrigerate any remaining frosting for another use.   About 18 cupcakes.

PS.  Want to do something nice for someone?  Yes, you do.  Please click on this link and vote for my my cooking friend Linda's recipe, Dutch Apple Breakfast Bake.  If she wins this online voting contest, she will earn a spot to compete at the Pillsbury Bake-Off  for a $1,000,000.00!!!  You must register to vote,  but there is only one vote per person so it will just take a minute, PLUS there are lots of amazing recipes on this site.  Help someone's dream come true today...it's a random act of kindness, you know!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Baked Pita Chips

I know.  Has roasted red pepper hummus not been done like a gazillion times before on like a gazillion different blogs?  I'm going to post it anyway.  You know what they say:  it's not a food blog until there's a post on hummus.  I'm haven't been doing a lot of cooking this week because my hubby is hunting wild turkey in the northern part of the state and this is pretty much what I've lived on.  This and a steady diet of HGTV.  I like the one where they redid the master bedroom and then there was a big reveal at the end.  Have you seen that one? 

Anyway...  

The great thing about this combo is that it's healthy and cheap.  I recently discovered that my local Wal-Mart has a clearance rack of bakery and bread items.  I visit it every time I go and  I picked up a couple of bags of pita bread a while back for about $.90 apiece.  I froze them and kept saying that I was going to make chips out of them and I finally did this week.  Now, I love the bags of pita chips that they sell in the store (Stacy's rocks!) but they are a little on the expensive side, I think.  Mine were equally delicious at a fraction of the price.  I have also been picking up loaves of ciabatta and focaccia bread at a reduced cost.  I just check for any signs of mold, and then I freeze it when I get home.  Since most of these breads are toasted when I use them, freezing is just fine.

I actually had everything to make the hummus including the tahini (sesame seed paste), which is more of an 'exotic' food item in these here parts, but was sort of a gift from my mom.  A while back ( it was actually two years ago) we were visiting my grandmother in Petal, Mississippi and we discovered The Corner Market.  This little grocery store has a great selection of imported/ exotic/can't-get-anything-like-this-in-Wayne County, MS/ Food Network-y items that this little Buckatunna girl had been living without, so she bought me a few.  I had fun trying out some new things, but a couple of them, like the tahini paste, were pushed to the back of the cabinet until this week.  I'm really glad I opened the jar even though I didn't see an expiration date, which made me a little nervous, but you know what?  I didn't get sick or anything.  I feel fine. ;o)  

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Baked Pita Chips

1(15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1 clove garlic

2 roasted red peppers from a jar

2tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

About 6 whole pita pocket bread rounds

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1. To make the hummus, process the chickpeas and next seven ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
2. For the pita chips, lightly brush both sides of each pita with olive oil.  Sprinkle with desired amount of kosher salt.  Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.  For thinner chips, cut the pita in half horizontally first, then into wedges.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes With Dulce de Leche Buttercream-The Quick And Easy Version

Yesterday was my son-in-law's birthday and I wanted to make him something really special.  He loves my Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream that landed me a spot on The Ultimate Recipe Showdown on Food Network in 2008, but I'm not going to lie:  although very delicious, these cupcakes are pretty time consuming to make. 

And because every flower, weed, and tree bud known to man is now in full bloom in my part of Mississippi, and is sending my body into a sneezy/watery-eyed/dry sore throat/body-aching/sinus pressured/pollen-induced frenzy, I haven't felt like baking or cooking or EVEN polishing my toes in a bright spring color, which is something I've been waiting weeks to do.  (Yay! for spring, but Boo! for spring allergies.)  So, I made over my original recipe to make it easy and quick (er).

Here are some tips when making this recipe:
-I prefer to cook my dulce de leche in the oven instead of buying the bottled stuff at the store.  I think it's better this way.  DO NOT forget to cover with foil first or you'll get a brown, tarry, unusable substance.  I speak from experience.

- They freeze well and you can even eat them straight out of the freezer because all the milk in the cupcake prevents the cake part from getting rock hard.  They can be brought to room temperature to serve, too, just store them in the fridge.

- You will probably have injecting liquid left over, but don't you worry your pretty little head about that because I've got a couple of ideas on how to use it up.  The first way is to drizzle a little bit of the liquid on a small dessert plate, then take the cupcake out of the wrapper and place in the center of the drizzle.  This makes for a pretty and more elegant presentation.  The second way to use up the liquid is to place a tablespoon or so in your morning coffee in place of your usual cream.  I'm SERIOUS about this.  I did it this morning and it was delicious, although I had to use a little extra sweetener.

-I like to cook my dulce de leche and bake my cupcakes and inject them the day before, then leave them to chill in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day I just whip up my frosting and top with the coconut.

-If you don't have an injector needle, you could certainly poke holes in the top of the cupcakes and drizzle the mixture over the top.  I just like using the needle because I can better control where the mixture goes in; also,  it doesn't leave big holes that smash the cake.   Let me add this about injector needles:   if you already have one that has been used for turkey or other meat, I would not use it for your baked goods.  Just buy another one that is used just for baking, that way there is not a chance of contamination.  There is a picture of an injector and how to use it in this post.

Tres leches means "three milks" in Spanish and here is a little history of the cake if your interested.

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream-The Quick and Easy Version

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk, divided

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix

Ingredients to make the cake

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk (not cream of coconut)

2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

About 1 cup shredded, flaked coconut, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  To make the dulce de leche:  pour 1 can of the sweetened condensed milk in a glass pie plate or similar size glass casserole dish; cover with foil.  Place the pie plate in a large roasting pan where it can sit flat.  Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes or until caramel colored.  Let cool completely.
2. Mix up cake according to package directions using recommended ingredients and adding 1 teaspoon coconut extract to the batter.  Pour into paper lined cupcake pans filling about 3/4 full.  Bake according to package directions. 
3. While cupcakes are baking, whisk together the remaining can of sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and the coconut milk.  When cupcakes come out of the oven, inject each of them with the milk mixture using an injection needle and about 1/2 to 3/4 ounce in each cupcake.  Cool completely before frosting.
4. To make the frosting, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the dulce de leche and beat until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time and beat until smooth and light and fluffy.
5. Frost cupcakes generously with frosting, then sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Keep refrigerated.

Pour the water between the roasting pan and the pie plate for the dulce de leche.

The dulce de leche will be thick, but this is okay.  It will blend into the frosting perfectly.