Malted Scáiltín Cupcakes

Woohoo! Today’s the day and I’ve got a great St. Patrick’s Day recipe all ready for you…Malted Scáiltín Cupcakes. For those of you who have been following along with me for any time now know that I simply adore cupcakes. So for St. Patrick’s Day I decided to make a cupcake version of Scáiltín (Irish Milk Punch), which is a drink made with hot milk, Irish whiskey and spices.

It has been taking the chill off folks in Ireland since the middle ages. I told you all about it a couple of years ago and if there was ever a winter to inspire one to imbibe a few of these, it was the one we just had and are hopefully now seeing the back of!

I adapted a Hot Milk Cake recipe for the cake bit of these cupcakes, seeings how hot milk plays such an important role in Scáiltín and added a bit of Irish Whiskey into the mix. The frosting is a delightful combination of marshmallow creme, butter, whiskey, Baileys and spices. And just as you do with the drink, I have garnished the cupcakes with a bit of freshly ground nutmeg.

The result is one fantastic boozy cupcake! The cake is moist and tender, sweet but not too sweet. Oh and that frosting…creamy and addictive I tell you! Cupcake perfection for St. Patrick’s Day!

So I guess that’s it. I have managed somehow to once again complete my St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon. I wasn’t sure there a couple of times, but there you go, that’s seventeen…count ’em…SEVENTEEN… tasty Irish-y recipes done and dusted! I may have to take a bit of a break from the old blog now for a few days to recover, but rest assured, I’ll be back. In the meantime, I hope you get out there and enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day festivities, after you make up a big batch of these Malted Scáiltín Cupcakes of course! Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daiobh! (Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)

• Servings: 18 cupcakes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipes adapted from: The Cupcakes from: King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, The Frosting from: F&B Department

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons Irish Whiskey
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Frosting:

• 1 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Marshmallow Creme
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 4 1/2 Tablespoons malted milk powder
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 Tablespoons Irish Whiskey
• 3 teaspoons Baileys
• freshly ground nutmeg to sprinkle on top

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease or line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until very thick; the batter should fall from the beaters in a thick ribbon. Beat in the vanilla.

While you’re beating the eggs and sugar, heat the milk, butter, Irish Whiskey and honey in a small saucepan to just simmering. Add the hot milk to the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream as  you continue beating.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Don’t overmix!

Fill the cupcake wells using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

For the Frosting:

Cream together the marshmallow creme and butter until smooth and fluffy.

Sift the confectioner’s sugar, malted milk powder, salt and cinnamon together. Turn stand mixer on low and add the sugar/malt mixture to the marshmallow by the tablespoon, waiting until sugar is completely incorporated before adding the next tablespoon full. Add the Irish Whiskey and Baileys and mix until smooth.

Fill pastry bag with frosting and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Just prior to serving, garnish with fresh ground nutmeg.

Enjoy!

Malted Scáiltín Cupcakes brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)