I have a tradition in my office where I bake my coworker’s favorite desserts for them on their birthday. One coworker said she loved confetti cake. Hmmm… I was stuck. That’s out of a box. But… I said ok. I went to the store and looked for a box of confetti cake. To my dismay, they had none. I wasn’t sure if confetti cake could actually be made (weren’t those sprinkles inside magic so they got soft and didn’t bleed into the cake?) but a short google later, I found out that any regular sprinkles will do. Good to know!
So I whipped up a simple vanilla cake recipe (recipe here) and added in some sprinkles. Worked like a charm!
But I had to get a little more original with the frosting. Lori had blogged about a Bailey’s frosting a few months back, and that seemed like a great idea to spice up these cupcakes. She originally got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
I also bought a new cupcake piping set, and it made for some LOVELY looking cupcakes.
So lovely in fact, that I couldn’t stop taking pictures.
And this picture was definitely my favorite.
If you want to make Bailey’s frosting at home, I recommend staying very close to the following recipe. I added a bit of extra powdered sugar to make sure the peaks kept their shape after I piped them and brought this to the office. It was perfect.
___________________
RECIPE
___________________
Bailey’s Frosting
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)
Directions:
1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. NOTE FROM SMITTTEN KITCHEN THAT REALLY HELPED: “This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.”
2. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
