A Wee Bit of Irish: Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Filling

St. Patrick's Day once again fell on Thatmom's birthday.  Like it does every year.  But this year, it happened to fall on a weekend, which is nice because it meant the whole family can spend the whole day together!

We met for a late breakfast at Pannikin - Thatmom's favorite.  Thatbaby loves sharing breakfast with Thatmom.  They like the same things - muffins and eggs.

And Thatmom wasn't the only one who got presents.  Thatmom brought Thatbaby a St. Patrick's day hat and Thatbrother and UDubb brought along St. Patrick's day sunglasses (or as Thatbaby calls them, "Oh Was")

After breakfast we went for a hike up in Torrey Pines.  It was a beautiful day and lots of people were out enjoying it.  I like when Thatbaby is able to spend time with Thatbrother and UDubb.  In general, he gets to spend time with Thatmom and Thatboy's side of the family, but only sees my brother and sister-in-law during meals.  And he's still a little shy around Thatbrother, who I'm sure will be his favorite uncle when he's just a bit older.

 

I can't remember the last time we were able to have corned beef and cabbage ON St. Patrick's Day, since we're usually out with Thatmom for dinner.  But since we celebrated earlier during the day, we were on our own for dinner and Thatboy could have his traditional St. Patrick's Day Feast.  We have officially converted from "corned beef and cabbage" to a "corned beef and colcannon" family.  It still has all the same elements - corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, but in a much tastier form!

For Thatmom's birthday, we had cake.  Because it's not a birthday without cake.  I sent Thatmom a menu from our favorite bakery and had her pick one out.  She went with the "Strawberry cake" - white cake with strawberry filling and a buttercream frosting.  Which is funny, because I had made something similar for my coworkers earlier that week - Champagne cupcakes with strawberry cream filling and whipped cream frosting.  Both cake and cupcakes were beyond delicious.  I love our cake bakery, and everyone else was completely won over.  And my coworkers claimed these to be the best cupcakes they've ever had.

Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Filling

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt + 1/8 tsp
7 eggs, yolks and whites separated

1 1/4 cups sugar + 2 Tbsp
5 Tbsp vegetable oil
2  tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup champagne

1 egg white

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup mashed strawberries

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325.  Line two muffin  pans with cupcake liners.  Combine the flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl.
2. Beat the egg yolks and 1 1/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer until thick and light in color.  
3. Add in canola oil and 1 tsp vanilla extract.  Mix until well-combined.
4. Add in the dry ingredients, alternating with the champagne (beginning and ending with the dry ingredients)
5. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until foamy.
6. Add 2 Tbsp sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. 
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter until combined, then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
8. Fill the muffin pans 2/3 full with the batter and bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, before turning out to cool completely.
9. While cupcakes are cooling, beat the remaining egg whites until foamy.
10. Add the salt and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
11. Beat 1 cup of the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks.
12. Add 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until combined. Fold the egg white mixture and cream mixture together.
13. Stir in strawberries.
14. When cupcakes are cooled, cut a cone out of the top of each.  Use a pastry bag to fill each cupcake with the strawberry cream and then place the cone back on top.
15. Make the frosting: Beat the remaining heavy cream until soft peaks form.
16. Melt the white chocolate chips and beat into the heavy cream, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
17. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar, using as much as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.  Frost your cupcakes!