Irish Car Bomb Twinkies®

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Irish Car Bomb "Twinkies" are the perfect end to your corn beef and cabbage celebration!  These are made very similar to the cupcake varieties that you see on the internet with some adaptations:  chocolate stout cake with a creamy chocolate whiskey filling and topped with an Irish cream glaze.  A little bit dressed up and  little bit down home. 

I've had these on my baking bucket list for a long, long time.  I had wanted to make the cupcake version, but when Hostess announced that they would be closing up shop on Twinkies, I had to get the pan to make homemade Twinkies.  The pan is called a "cream boat" pan.  So, technically, these are Irish Car Bomb Cream Boats.  No copyright issues there...And, if you remember, Jacqueline posted her delicious version of Grown Up Twinkies with Rum a while back, too.

Moist chocolate cake that holds its shape well and can handle the filling of chocolate whiskey marshmallow cream. Lots of great chocolate flavor in this beauties.  Once these are filled, they are topped with a Irish cream glaze.  Booze of choice for these are Tullamore D.E.W. (no surprise!), Baileys Irish Cream and Bison Organic Chocolate Stout.  Irish all around and I wouldn't do these any other way.  

This was sort of a trial and error process for me.  I tried to cheat and didn't prepare the pans with shortening and flour.  Well, I sure learned my lesson and now have 14 'rejects.'  Not very pretty but taste great.  Good news is that the second attempt was a success.  So, if you try these, prepare your pans the old-fashioned way or you will have lots and lots of chocolate cake crumbs to make some trifle or cake pops.

Trial and error aside, I will make these again.  Now I know all their secrets and am excited to try different versions of Twinkies for adults!  

Hope your St. Patrick's Day is grand!  

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Whiskey Ginger Mini Cheesecakes {with Tullamore D.E.W.}

Stress.  Good stress and not-so-good stress.  You know the kind.  

I've been kinda over booked of late.  Some of the best kind of overbooked.  Baking, dinner with friends, spring cleaning, gardening, time with Dad, reunions with college friends, and an amazing dinner/evening with new blogger friends.  Good stuff like that...Truthfully, a few "bad things" have also happened.  Really scary things, but all seem to have settled.  So, now there is time to do a bit more baking and blogging for you once again.

And, have you noticed a few things new on our blog?  We had a few tweaks done this month by a very cool blogger and designer, Emily, over at Sweet Bella Roos.  She made us look all pretty and more up-to-date on our social media links.  We've also added a few Favorite Brands, Tullamore and Licor 43.  Both companies have been so generous to us in providing product and encouragement.  We wanted to thank them for their support.  

So, on to this killer cheesecake and other optimal stress relievers: baking and booze.

I developed this recipe looking around the internet to find the right combination of flavors.  I've had a few whiskey ginger mixed drinks lately, most recently at the Pour House.  I love the combination and thought a traditional cheesecake would be nice.  I also found ginger preserves in my cupboard, which I have seen Nigella use from time-to-time, which sounded nice to include.  Love, love, love when I find hidden treasures in my cupboards!

And, something very British Isles was starting to happen...English preserves meets Irish Whiskey.  How bad could it be?

I like my cheesecakes firm but not dry and this one is perfect.  Nice subtle ginger, sweet crust, creamy filling, topped with just-slightly sweet whipped cream and the best damn whiskey caramel sauce on this planet.

Oops, did I go a bit overboard.  Sorry...

I knew I wanted to "save" this recipe to make for a few bloggers friends.  We had decided to gather for a "pot-luck" a few months ago.  Seemed right for an early summer evening.  A blogger potluck...Yeah, you know these ladies can cook!   Fab appetizers and desserts from Tate's Kitchen, A Girl and Her Fork, and Guave Rose.   And, of course Jacqueline was there, and my good friend, Karla.  

Great evening, great food and conversation, and by-far the BEST leftovers in my life.  

I'd forgotten just how much I have missed cheesecake.  It's simpler to make than you think.  Just takes a wee bit of time and patience. 

And, you know the whiskey doesn't hurt either.  

I am sharing this over at Cake of the Week's Baking with Spirit Challenge for this month: Whisky (or Whiskey to an Irishman).  Hop on over for great ideas for baking with spirits, A.K.A., booze!

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Whiskey Fig Cupcakes

Truly inspired by a fab artisan cocktail creation by Jason Poole at the Pour House in Sacramento.  If you've been reading BIWB for a while, you may remember our first trip to Pour House.  That's when we sampled for the very first time, Tullamore D.E.W. with Tim Herlihy the brand's ambassador.  

We were so impressed with the offerings that we returned a few months later for Girls' Night.  Our second visit included sampling the bar and dinner menus as well as a few more classic cocktail creations.  Jason describes their approach as "quick craft" where top quality ingredients are used to create unique and fully flavored cocktails. 

My first cocktail of choice: the Whiskey Fig.  Duh.  One sip: I was "in".  

Photograph courtesy of Sacramento Magazine.

Next I tried a drink with ginger and whiskey...Sold yet again.  I would have sampled more, but it was a school night.  Wait, no, I had work the next day...That's right...Work.  

I knew that once I had the time I would be creating a BIWB treat to showcase Jason's creation of whiskey and fig preserves.  Lucky for me, I had a good amount of Tullamore on hand as well as some fig preserves from my coworker.  Score!

These cupcakes are moist.  No, really, they are moist.  They have a great spiced fig flavor with warm caramel from the Tullamore.  On top, a nice sweet finish with the honey whiskey fig buttercream.  And, as the true baker that I've become, I marveled at the rise of these lovelies.  Please check out the pics showing how much these babies topped the pan...Truly a thing to behold.

They say that whiskey is enjoyed by more and more women today.  I can attest to that as a fact...I'm not just baking with this stuff.  No ma'am.  I'm also enjoying a cocktail (or two)!  

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Manhattan Cupcakes {with Tullamore D.E.W.}

Rich and moist, these Tullamore D.E.W. whiskey-infused cupcakes are topped with buttercream that tastes just like a Manhattan cocktail...A great after dinner treat on these cold, late winter nights.  Whether or not you're a lover of the cocktail, I can guarantee you will love these very "grown up" cupcakes!

The Manhattan cocktail was first introduced in (where else?) Manhattan.  Legend has the cocktail created around 1870, so it really is one of the very first cocktails, and a true American tradition.  It was a cocktail that used the whiskey of its time, Rye (Canadian Whiskey), which is a blended whiskey with a large portion of corn spirits.  

The "classic" Manhattan cocktail is a simple 2:1 ratio of whiskey to Italian vermouth, with a few dashes of Angostura bitters.  These cupcakes are based on that classic ratio of whiskey to vermouth.  Bitters were added as well.   Why fiddle with a good thing...Right?  

I used Tullamore D.E.W. in my cupcakes because it has become my whiskey of choice in all thing baked or "cocktailed."   You will find Tullamore D.E.W. smooth and full of flavor -- a great addition to boozy baked things, with a finish of warm caramel.  I'm not much of a straight up kind of cocktail girl, but I'm learning to enjoy a Manhattan every now and then.  An easy cocktail to order, and very grown up, too! 

Give these cupcakes a try...They are an easy slide into the classic Manhattan cocktail.  And, you just might have found a new and uniquely American cocktail to enjoy at your next happy hour!

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Whiskey Bacon Pecan Pie {with Tullamore D.E.W.}

Bacon lovers unite!  It's the 2nd Annual Bacon Fest Sacramento!!  In honor of such a momentous happening, I pulled out all the BIWB stops and created a pecan pie fit for a true bacon lover.  

Honey caramel shellacked bacon surrounded by crispy pecans topping a whiskey scented filling chocked full of pecans...Wow, are you swooning?

Maybe salivating just a bit?

Yeah, I had that trouble as well.  And, I will admit...When reviewing the photos for this post, I was actually salivating.  Yeah, I know...Tough to admit for this girl: unabashed salivating over food pictures.  

Shameless drooling...

Jacqueline and I first tasted Tullamore D.E.W. a few months ago at The Pour House in Sacramento.  We were invited because of our blogger buddy Ally (over at A Girl and Her Fork) forwarded our blog to the folks at Tullamore.  Thank you, Ally!

We are so thankful to Tim Herlihy, Tullamore's Ambassador, for his time teaching us about the making and flavor profiles of Irish whiskey.  I am forever changed when it comes to whiskey, both as a libation and as a baking booze.  Just amazing Irish Whiskey and this pie really does showcases its rich caramel and warm woody flavors.   

The BIWB possibilities are endless for Tullamore and us...A challenge we gladly accept!!  #Glasses Up!

Please do check out all the happenings at this year's Bacon Fest Sacramento...A lot of fun and a lot of bacon!  


We're partying at the Pi Day Pie Party at Crazy for Crust today. Come party with us!
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