Irish Creme Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes!

Irish is in my blood. Literally. And I love it. My great, great, Grandmother, Margaret McCleve Hancock immigrated here from Ireland with her parents and her siblings in 1856 in the pursuit of religious freedom.  (Read her full story at the bottom of this post)

Represent!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and my Irish heritage, I've created a fabulous cupcake so that we may all enjoy a little taste of Ireland today. 

Get ready for a Irish Creme Chocolate Caramel Cupcake that will knock your socks off and spread Happy St. Patty's Day cheer to all!
The cake is super moist and the Irish Creme flavor is so creamy and hazel-nutty and just so divine.

We are cheating today and doing an enhanced box mix! Easy and Yummy! 

(Easy) Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients: 

1 box of Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix

1 sm. package of Instant Chocolate Pudding mix

1 C. Sour Creme

1/2 C. Irish Creme Coffee Creamer 

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

4 eggs

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. 

3. Pour into 24 cupcake liners and bake for 16 min.

4. When the cupcakes are done, take them out of the cupcake pan so that they stop cooking.

5. Let cool completely

Irish Cream Buttercream:

5 C. Powdered Sugar - Sifted

1 C. Unsalted Butter - Completely Room Temp

1/2 C. (minus 2 Tbs) Cold Irish Cream Coffee Creamer

1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp. Butter Rum Extract OR 1 tsp. Hazelnut Extract

                                

Directions: 

1. Beat butter in an electric mixer until nice and creamy. 

2. Slowly add in the sifted powdered sugar a little at a time, allowing it to incorporate between each                   addition. 

3. When all the powdered sugar is incorporated, add the Irish Cream Coffee Creamer and whip, starting on      low and working your way to high, until it is light and fluffy (about 2 min.) 

Ganache: 

Ingredients: 

1 C. Good quality semi sweet chocolate, chopped 

2 Tbs. Unsalted butter - Room temp

1/2 C. Irish Coffee Creamer

Directions:

1. Place chocolate in a large bowl and add butter.

2. In a small saucepan, bring the Irish Coffee Creamer to a simmer (Do not scald creamer)

3. Once the Coffee Creamer has come to a simmer, pour over chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds.

4. Stir with a wisk until everything is incorporated well. 

5. Let Ganache come to room temp before you drizzle it over the cupcakes. You don't want it warm at all or     it will melt the buttercream.

To Decorate the Cupcakes:

Core a hole in the top of each cupcake. Fit a pastry bag with your choice of caramel or ganache filling.  (If you don't want to core cupcakes, fit your filling pastry bag with an eclair tip). Fill a pastry bag fitted with the piping tip of your choice and pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes. 

Drizzle Ganache and store-bought (or home-made is even better) Caramel onto iced cupcakes.
Sprinkle with gold confetti sprinkles and enjoy!

For my family: Here is Margaret McCleve's Story down below:

Taken from familysearch.org website: (Contributed by Dixie H. Krauss)

Margaret’s childhood… 

Margaret McCleve, daughter of John McCleve Jr. and Nancy Jane McFerren, was born in Belfast, Ireland, on September 17, 1838. She was the third of ten children. Her father was one of the caretakers of a large estate situated near the ocean. Margaret spent a happy childhood roaming the beautiful grounds and enjoying the nearby sandy beach. These pleasant memories sustained her through the trials in the years to follow. When her parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, persecution followed. Margaret and three of her sisters were baptized August 26, 1850, in the Irish Sea after dark. Her parents finally took their family to America for religious freedom. Margaret’s two older sisters went first; then the rest of the family followed. They landed in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 23, 1856; then traveled by rail to Iowa City, Iowa. There they joined the second handcart company and started for Zion on June 11, 1856. When only seventeen years old, Margaret walked 1300 miles across the plains pushing the back of the handcart. She also helped care for her sick baby brother and shared her small portion of food with him. Margaret’s dear father succumbed to the hardships of the trek just two days from their destination. The fatherless family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 26, 1856.

Marriage and family…

Margaret’s mother moved the family to Payson, Utah, and remarried the following year. Mosiah Lyman Hancock  met Margaret in nearby Spanish Fork. As she arose from her chair to shake hands with him, he heard a voice say, “Mosiah, behold your wife.” They were married on January 9, 1857.

Tribute to Margaret… 

She was a natural born nurse and an excellent midwife, delivering over 1500 babies into this world. Her interest in these children continued, and she claimed them as her own. “Though her trials were many, she was always firm in her faith and found comfort in bringing comfort to others. She had a very kind and sympathetic nature, charitable to those in need or in trouble. She was loved and trusted by all who knew her. It can truly be said of her that the world was a better place by her having lived in it.” —Rhoda P. J. Wakefield, granddaughter.