The fiance is a Kentucky-bred lad and came into my life with a love for all things Kentucky: Horse racing, UK basketball, and, of of course, bourbon. Since we began dating I've been introduced to Keeneland (so much fun!), the Derby, and cooking with bourbon (yum!). Hence the Kentucky Bourbon Pie cupcakes I made for V-day.
A few weeks ago we splurged and took a trip over to Gigi's cupcakes... Delicious! We ended up skipping dinner and snacking instead on the two (huge!) cupcakes we purchased. One of them was a Kentucky Bourbon Pie... CSB, knowing my love for baking, insisted I should try and make something similar. {Perfect suggestion a few days before Valentine's!} So I took on the endeavor a few days later.... I experimented a little, as I found a couple of recipes for the cupcakes.
Rendition #1 was derived from a recipe found
here.
Here's my rendition of the recipe:
2 boxes jiffy pie mix (I've never used this before but it was really easy to work with)
1 box butter cake mix
1/2 cup + a splash KY bourbon
Pecans... A cup or 2? I forgot to measure.
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Bourbon Cream Cheese Icing (recipe listed below)
Prepare pie mix as directed and place in refrigerator while preparing the cupcakes. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box. After mixing add the bourbon and mix. Remove the pie mix from the fridge and roll out until it is approximately 1/4 inch (or a bit thinner!) and cut out approximately 5 inch circles (I used a beer glass I found under the cabinet). Grease a muffin tin and press circles into the bottom and sides of the muffin tin. Place approximately 1 tsp. (I didn't measure, just covered the bottom) pecans on top of the pie crust followed by approximately 1 tsp. chocolate chips and 1 tsp. butterscotch chips. Spoon or pour cake mix on top, filling just over 2/3 full. I didn't quite fill my enough... I recommend pretty close to the top of the pie filling- but do remember the pie filling will expand while baking! Top with bourbon cream cheese icing when cool and serve on your cutest cake or cupcake stand!
Recommendations: Roll out dough, as I said, really thin. My pie crust turned out a little thicker than I hoped. Fill cupcakes 2/3 plus some as to make sure they rise above pie crust.
These turned out really yummy. They are definitely different from a traditional cupcake... I wish the pie crust had been a bit thinner as it almost took away from the cupcake. And I don't think I filled mine quite full enough with batter.
Here's a picture of the middle, it gives you an idea of how much of the pecan/choc/butterscotch chip mixture I put in the bottom.
Here's the second rendition of the recipe, the one CSB gave the higher rating:
This recipe was very simple. Mix cake mix as directed above with addition of bourbon. Pour into cupcake liner until about half-full. (I used
these instead of a muffin tin and they worked really well- as long as you don't over fill them. My grandmother gave them to me awhile back and I have just had the chance to use them!) Drop pecans, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips into mix (Again, I didn't measure, but added generously!). Top with more mix.
The only problem with these was that all of the goodies dropped to the bottom. It tasted great this way but several separated when I took them out of the wrappers (as in, all the goodies stuck to the bottom and the cake part came off). Most of them were fine, though! My though to fix this is to allow cupcakes to bake for a couple of minutes before adding ingredients? If someone has a suggestion, let me know. This could also be made with chocolate cake mix, depending on your taste buds. After cupcakes cool, top with bourbon cream cheese icing.
These cupcakes turned out really moist... And were delicious!
Now, for the icing. I love homemade icing. Buttercream, cream cheese, chocolate buttercream... Yum! I made a basic cream cheese icing:
1 stick butter, unsalted (room temperature)
1 8 oz. block cream cheese (room temperature)
Approximately 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4-1/2 cup bourbon, depending on your taste
Biggest piece of advice: Start with cream cheese and butter at room temperature, otherwise you will end up with lumps and bumps. If you mix it long enough you can usually work them out but it just adds to the time it takes to prepare.
Mix butter and sugar on medium-ish speed with electric mixer. Add bourbon and mix. Gradually add powdered sugar and continue to mix. Final result should be slightly stiff/thick icing. Add more or less powdered sugar as needed.
To ice the cupcakes I use a piping bag and cupcake tip (which is basically a larger tip). I drop it into a bag without a coupler.
I recommend using a bigger bag... I need to purchase some new (obviously... red/pink/black icing have tinged mine over the years!)/bigger ones but used this one yesterday because it is all I have:
Here's the cupcake tip:
Cupcake tip pictured beside typical decorating tip to give you an idea of size difference:
Drop tip into bag. Depending on how the bag is trimmed the tip should either be just even with edges or stick out just beyond bag:
Start on the outside edge of the cupcake and make gradually smaller circles as you approach the middle (I hope this makes sense). Pull up a bit and then let go once you get to the middle.
Enjoy! Let me know if you try the recipe or have any suggestions to make it better.
