Girls Night In - Cupcakes!

It had been a while since our group had a Girls Night In...and so when my friend Feli decided to have one at her place we all jumped at the chance to relive the days of chatty giggly sleepovers...the ones filled with makeovers, pigging out on delicious goodies, ghost stories, gossip, crushes and more!

The one major difference from the good old days and now though is that I no longer have to sneak into my parent’s liquor cabinet for a little sip of Kahlua…

Back in the day my best friend Jan, my sister Steph, and I used to have a little bit of Kahlua and milk as our “grownup drink”…never mind that it was a few drops of Kahlua in a large glass of milk…we felt as though we were cool…sipping on our nightcap as we gossiped into the wee hours of the night…this became something we did whenever Jan stayed over at our place…

Then two years ago I had a few friends over at my place…Carol said she had a bottle of Kahlua to bring to the sleepover and so after dinner we decided to make milkshakes as our party drink…we blended milk and ice and Kahlua and it was creamy and delicious…there were good intentions behind this concoction…but it somehow made us all super drowsy and after our milkshakes we couldn’t keep our eyes open…the night that should have been full of excitement came to a stop around 10pm…a record early night in my history of slumber parties…

I suppose this is why Kahlua has somehow become something I associate with sleepovers…so this time around I learnt from my mistake and decided that Kahlua milkshakes were out of the question…so I decided on something more fun and girly…Kahlua Cupcakes!

I found this recipe online and these are super moist…possibly the most moist cake I’ve ever had…and it only gets more moist as the days go by…the only problem I had with the recipe was that it says 3tsp of baking soda…but my cupcakes had a bitter edge to them…so I think it could do with less baking soda. I also used vanilla bean for the cupcakes and for the frosting instead of extract.

Kahlua Cupcakes

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (keep 2 tablespoons for the egg whites later on)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean pod)

3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup Kahlua

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cocoa, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes.

3. In a small bowl mix water and Kahlua.

4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with the Kahlua mixture. Mix on medium speed until ingredients are completely combined.

6. With clean beaters and a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar to make a meringue. With a rubber spatula, fold the meringue into the batter.

7. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean.

Kahlua Cream Frosting:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

2 tbsp Kahlua

1/2 Vanilla pod

Sift together cocoa and confectioners sugar. Beat cream until slightly thickened. Add Kahlua, cocoa, vanilla, and sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Refrigerate and spread on cupcakes once they have cooled.