Happy Halloween! It’s the time of year where everyone has a bunch of candy laying around. Either from over preparing for trick-or-treaters, kids who went trick-or-treating, or you just plan to partake in all the post halloween candy sales that’ll be happening tomorrow. Candy abounds. These milky way martini cupcakes not only utilize that candy, but they give you a perfect way to unwind post halloween (by taking a shot of a milky way martini)
These cupcakes aren’t meant for kids, since they’re pretty alcoholic. There’s a cup of alcohol per 12 cupcakes, and that’s not even including the shot. But they’re deliciously perfect for adults. The chocolate milky way martini cupcake base is stuffed with a milky way, topped with caramel, then frosted with milky way martini frosting.
The result is a yummy crumbly but moist cake, a perfect hint of caramel and a delightfully light, but flavorful frosting. These are a winner.
So to make them you start off by heating your milk and melting in your cocoa powder.
Then make 2 cups worth of a milky way martini (if you’re halving the recipe just make 1 cup)
Then make your batter. If you want some tips to make the perfect cupcake batter every time, head over to skillshare and take my cupcake baking course. I got over all the steps, including creaming the butter and the sugar, the importance of whisking enough air into the wet ingredients and not over stirring when you add in the dry. Basically, it’s a promise for a perfect cupcake every time to prevent anything too dense, too dry, to bready etc.
Then you scoop the batter, add your milky way and bake!
Then after you bake, you brush over some of that milky way martini to allow the cupcake to soak up some of the alcohol for flavor, and to help keep these babies moist.
Top them off with a little caramel sauce in the center
And frost. You want to make sure you frost right in the center of the caramel otherwise the frosting maaaaay slide off. I don’t know, maybe I discovered that through experience. Also for the record this is what happens when you frost a cupcake that’s too hot.
Then if you want to be really drunken, fill some “flavor injector tubes” with some of your cocktail and top it off so everyone can partake in a shot before eating your delicious creation!
Enjoy (responsibly)!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup Vanilla Vodka
- 3/4 cup Chocolate liqueur
- 1/2 cup Irish Cream
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 24 bite sized milky ways, or 12 fun sized cut in half
- Caramel sauce
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup of the cocktail mixture made for the cucpakes
- Flavor infusing pipettes
- extra vodka, chocolate liqueur and irish cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners
- Heat your milk in the microwave for 30 seconds than add the cocoa powder and stir well, set aside
- In a liquid measuring cup, combine your alcohol and stir. Set aside
- In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy. Then whisk in your eggs one at a time, thoroughly combining with each addition. Then whisk in the vanilla.
- Add your cocoa and milk mixture to your wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Add 1/3 of your flour mixture and stir until just barely combined, then add 3/4 cup of your cocktail and again, stir until just combined. Add a second third of flour, stirring until just combined, and another 3/4 cup of your cocktail (there will be 1/2 a cup left over. Set that aside) stirring until just incorporated. Add the remainder of your flour and mix until just incorporated.
- Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full with your batter and press a milky way into the center of each.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with dry crumbs.
- Once out of the oven, before they have time to cool, brush some of the cocktail over each cupcake and allow it to absorb (I brushed each cupcake 3 times). Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.
- To make the frosting, cream the butter until it's light and fluffy then slowly add in the powdered sugar, whisking and incorporating as much air as you can. If it gets to hard to stir slowly add in the cocktail 1 tbsp at a time. When the frosting reaches the consistency you like put it in a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
- When cupcakes are completely cooled, top each cupcake with a layer of caramel then carefully add the frosting in the center of each pool of caramel.
- Fill your pipettes with some cocktail and stick one in each cupcake as a final treat!
These cupcakes are absolutely gorgeous, I think I could just eat it with a spoon. What a perfect fall cupcake! Yumm…
Thank you! They’re mighty delicious!