Everything Irish!

I had a cupcake while in Napa at Sift that was a Guinness Stout with Bailey's frosting and HAD to try to make one myself. While searching the internet, I found cupcakes with not only these ingredients but also with a Jamison whiskey ganache filling. How could I resist my Irish roots calling to me to create this liquor filled cupcake...the results were wonderful!!! The Guinness in the cupcake gives it quite an interesting and delightful taste - and then you get the surprise of the ganache in the center. The frosting with the flavor of Bailey's was just the right amount of sweetness to not overtake the cupcake. All-in-all, me sainted mother would be pleased!

We are not so far removed from the animal world...

Ok, I am sure Kailyn (or her parents) wouldn't appreciate the "animal" reference, but her tapping the lollicake to get it off the stick reminded me of the monkeys at the zoo...sorry, princess baby! The looks on her face are priceless as she devours her lollicake. There is the look of joy...the look of bliss...and the look of satisfaction of how smart she is when she gets the lollicake off the stick.

Northern California Cupcakes...and the winner is - Kara's Cupcakes!

We just got back from a trip to Wine Country up in Napa County, California, with our friends Sally and Doc. My mission on this trip was to try out some new bakeries...my husband's mission was to try out all of the wineries he could visit! We both succeeded beautifully...I was able to taste Kara's Cupcakes and Sift in Napa with another visit to Kara's in San Francisco along with Loves Cupcakes in San Jose. Kara's cupcakes were moist and flavorable with frosting that was smooth and just the right consistency. Her Fleur de Sel was a chocolate cake with caramel filling, ganache frosting and fleur de sel sprinkled on top...to say it was orgasmic would be an understatement!!! Sally's favorite was the Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache. We ended up buying two dozen little cupcakes (one dozen each on two separate visits) and a half-dozen of the regular sized cupcakes for our week long stay. Kara's cupcakes were just as good three days after buying them, having them travel in the car, and sitting out in a hotel room. We also visited Sift because I wanted to try out the Irish Car Bomb (Guiness cake and Baileys frosting). It was good but didn't leave me quite as happy as Kara's cupcakes. I do want to attempt duplicating this one at home though. Loves cupcakes, which I believe is brand new in San Jose, were also good. I tried the coconut but was in too much of a rush to truly enjoy it. I will have to go back again to visit. It was a cute shop, and they are going to sell cupcakes on a stick (sounded like lollicakes to me!) So - overall, Kara's was my favorite...and her cupcakes also went quite well with Berringer's Leaning Oak Chardonnay...I will tell you that lollicakes could make a killing there by doing wine lollicakes for each vineyard - too bad Napa is so far away from Colorado.....