No Use Crying Over Spilled Cupcakes

Other appropriate titles for this post include: "Haste Makes Waste", "Don't Count Your Cupcakes Before They're Frosted", and "Oh, Why Dontcha Go Blog About It, Ya Big Sissy." :P

So, today might be known for the Luck of the Irish, but I should have known that wearing green does not automatically entitle you to some of that fortune. Although, I must tell you, I was convinced that good St. Pat was winking at me this morning when I started to bake my Mini Irish Cream Cupcakes.

You know how some days you wake up and you think to yourself, "Self, let's do something completely on a whim!" and it just magically works out? Well, that's how it seemed to be going with me this morning. I decided that I wanted to honor St. Patty's day with something sweet, but I didn't have any particular ideas in mind. After some Food Network browsing, I settled on Old-Fashioned Cupcakes because I didn't feel like getting too fancy. {Yes, it happens.} With an recipe in mind and a spring in my step, I was ready to hit the kitchen.

Then I broke the cardinal rule of recipe following: I did NOT check to make sure I had all my ingredients before I started baking. Bad, bad, baker.

Luckily, I just so happened to have exactly 1 cup of milk needed for the recipe. Yes! And exactly 2 sticks of butter!! Score!!! And exactly 4 eggs!!!! I was on a roll!!!!! But then, so was the bottle of canola oil I happened to have out on the countertop with a loose lid. And roll it did... all over my counter and onto my floor.

So began the slippery slope of klutziness bad luck. Oh well! I managed to clean up the mess and even baked off the mini cupcakes without burning down the apartment or synging an eyebrow. With a batch of cooled cupcakes ready to frost, I remembered that I had used up all the butter. No biggie, but you can't make buttercream without butter, now can you? No, silly. You can't. Off to the grocery store.

While I was picking up the butter, I suddenly had the idea to flavor my buttercream with Irish Cream for an extra festive touch. While I most definitely considered stopping in at the liquor store for the real thing, I decided to go the cheaper and more sober route and use Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer instead. Genius!

So, back in the kitchen, I'm all hyped up about my fabulous idea and I get a little overzealous with the mixer speed as I'm incorporating some green food coloring into my frosting. I suppose looking like a green dalmation never hurt anyone, especially not on St. Patty's day, so I continue with the task at hand and end up with a lovely light green buttercream that I have to admit, I was quite proud of. So proud, in fact, that I got a little antsy and wanted to see my mini cupcakes frosted ASAP. I imagine this is how runners feel when they see the finish line, though I wouldn't know because my idea of exercise is lifting my cast iron skillet onto my stovetop. {Hey, do YOU have a cast iron skillet? Yeah, that's what I thought. They're not for the puny.}

I somehow managed to get the majority of the green frosting into my piping bag with no real damage to my clothes or immediate surroundings, so I figured I was in the clear once again. I finished piping the top tier of cupcakes on my baking rack and was ready to move onto tier 2. And then it happened... my luck ran out.

The Great St. Patrick's Day Massacre of 2011

Not exactly the "bottoms up" I hoped for on St. Patty's day.

I would share more pictures, but I assure you they only got more gruesome. I'll spare you so you can sleep tonight. It wasn't pretty.

But you know what? I straightened up the cupcakes that didn't fall on the floor and arranged them just so in a safe little container. They weren't picture perfect.

Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Ok, maybe some were pretty close.

A lone survivor.

Messy or not, they tasted just as good. Luckily. :)

* Not-so-Lucky Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting
(This did not make enough to frost ALL of my mini cupcakes, but did frost 25 minis.)

You'll Need:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
Approx 8 oz confectioners sugar (more for stiffer frosting)
3 tablespoons Irish Cream Coffee Creamer

Directions:

Cream softened butter and Irish Cream coffee creamer. Beat with paddle attachment until smooth gradually add sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more sugar to reach desired frosting consistency.