The Glamorous Gourmet - Kentucky Derby Pie Cupcakes (Wanna Be Gigi's)

Ok so here's what happened. I was browsing through pinterest quite aimlessly when I stumbled upon a pin for "Kentucky Derby Cupcakes". The picture made me want to lick the monitor! YUM! So I repinned and moved on to crochet ideas, home decor and the occasional outfit. Less than 28 days later (wink) I WANTED something sinful to soothe my soul. Immediately, I thought of the luscious picture. A dark cake topped with white creamy goodness, a sprinkling of nuts and dripping with what could only be caramel and chocolate. I mean LOOK AT IT!

So I happily clicked to see what it was going to take to make these babies MINE and what?!?! It's a link to the website for Gigi's Cupcakes. DIE pinterest you have failed me! No recipe. Just that picture and a taunting description of what this level of heaven contained. Never deterred I Googled the crud out of it. I seached high and low for a copycat Gigi's Cupcakes Kentucky Derby Pie Cupcakes Recipe. Nada. Zip. Absolutely nothing!

To add to my pain, there isn't an actual Gigi's Cupakes store within a two hour drive of my house. I have never been to one, nor have I ever tasted the cupcakes which had become the object of my lust. So armed with the description I set out to find a way to blindly recreate this thing. Now, I've already confessed that I have never tasted the original. Therefore, this can't really be called a "copycat" recipe...yet. It's just a wanna be, BUT it is delicious! My husband is a self professed cake hater and in spite of himself had to declare this recipe the champion of everything, EVERYTHING in my extremely varied repertoire of baked treats. Now if anyone has actually had the real Gigi's Cupcake please let me know how this stacks up in the comments section. But you won't likely be disappointed even if the taste is different because it's still freakin' amazing! Well worth the effort.

So here we go with the recipe:

The Cake
adapted from this recipe

3 cups minus 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
6 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces) butter
1½ cups (10½ ounces) granulated sugar
½ cup (3¾ ounces) firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon (YEAH! Baking with Booze Baby!) *a 375ml bottle will last about 3 recipes*

1 tablespoon white vinegar
Enough milk to make 1 cup

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin pan or use paper liners. To make the cake, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. As you make the batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Blend in the eggs one at a time. Place the tablespoon of vinegar into a glass measuring cup and fill to the one cup line with milk. Let that sit until it thickens slightly and is curdy (about 5 minutes). Combine the bourbon and milk mixture in a small bowl. Feel free to have a nip of bourbon at this point be sure to leave some though ;) With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk-bourbon mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Now I know you're going to lick the bowl and probably make a face (unless you've been hitting the bottle and can hang like us Georgia girls!). I promise the bourbon mellows in the oven ;) In fact, it gets so mellow you'll need to make a bourbon glaze to top the cakes with!

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 of the way. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the cake is golden and springs back when touched, 20 minutes.

In the meantime, make the bourbon glaze. Don't skip it or skimp on it or there won't be any dang Kentucky in your cupcakes! In which case, you may as well not even bother. Seriously.

Bourbon glaze

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) granulated sugar (or brown if you like)
¼ cup Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon (Yup more booze!)

Combine the butter, sugar and bourbon in a small saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, whisking to combine. Now understand the less you cook it the more alcohol is retained in the glaze. Theoretically  you could cook the sugar and butter then just stir in the bourbon; but if you're serving kids you might feel impelled to really cook the stuff...maybe.

Remove from oven and turn the cupcakes out of the pan. Place on a baking sheet and perforate the tops with a fork. Brush each generously with bourbon glaze while still warm.

Now while those all cool, it's time for...

Toppings

Make your life a tad easier and buy some caramel topping like Smucker's or something.

Chop some more pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting 

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Basically, just mix it all together in a bowl. Start with 3 cups of sugar and if you want it thicker add more until the desired consistency is achieved. Thicker will do better when you add on the other toppings. You may want to refrigerate this until your ready to use it

Chocolate Ganache

8oz bitter-sweet baking chocolate chopped (or roughly what's left in your bag of mini chips)

1 cup of heavy cream

Bring the cream to a simmer on the stove top. Place chocolate into a heatproof bowl and pour simmering cream over top. Let it sit to melt a bit then whisk it up until it's combined. Now this stuff doesn't thicken much at room temperature so you need it to be a nice drizzling consistency while it's still warm. If it isn't add more chocolate. Ok, that can sit out and cool.

Time to frost these lovelies! I use a sandwich bag with the corner cut off, but a spoon would work too! Once frosted, drizzle with caramel. Put the ganache in a sandwich bag and cut the corner off or take your chances with a fork and drizzle over the cakes. Finally, sprinkle with chopped pecans unless your serving Mr. Picky then leave 'em off like I did here :p

The remaining booze is yours to do with as you wish ;) Now go eat some cupcakes!

The Glamorous Gourmet - Super Shots!

Here is an ultimate Jello shot list, all in one post! Courtesy of www.facebook.com/pgpartiesbykim

1 *JAGER BOMB* boil 1 cup red bull (in place of water), add black cherry or orange jello, 1 cup jager.

2 *MARGARITA* boil 1 cup water, add 3 oz pkg lime jello, 4 oz tequila, 4 oz sweet & sour margarita mix. sprinkle with salt just before firm.
(substitute watermelon jello for lime for a melon margarita)

3 *RUM & COKE boil 1 cups coke, mix in dark cherry jello add 1 cups light rum

4 *MIMOSAS* this one varies from the normal method Since champagne isn't as strong as liquor, cut the
water out of this one. boil one cup champagne, mix orange jello 2 min, add one more cup champagne and a splash of OJ.

5 *SILK* Boil one cup champagne, mix in jello for 2 minutes, add one cup champagne and splash of lychee juice from the can.

6 *ORANGE TIC TAC* Boil two cups red bull, mix jello two minutes, add two cups mandarin orange vodka

7 *LEMON DROP* (boil 1 cup water, add lemon jello, citrus vodka, top with sugar sprinkles just before its fully set up)

8 *GRAPE CRUSH* (boil 1 cups water, add grape jello, 1/2 cup plain vodka, 1/2 cup chambord)

9 *HAWAIIAN* (boil 1 cup water, add pineapple or blueberry jello, 1 cup coconut rum)

10 *GIN & TONIC* (boil 1 cup tonic water, add lime jello, 1 cup gin)

11 *LEMON LIME* (boil 2 cups sprite, add lemon and lime jellos, 2 cups citrus vodka)

12 *BLUEBERRY* (boil 1 cup water, add blueberry jello, 1 cup blueberry vodka)

13 *FRUIT PUNCH* (boil 1 cups water, add mixed fruit jello, 1/2 cup blueberry vodka, 1/2 cup raspberry vodka)

14 *WATERMELON* (boil 1 cup water, add watermelon jello,1 cup watermelon vodka)

15 *BEER* (boil 1 cups water, add strawberry jello, add 1 cup any malt liquor)

16 *CARIBBEAN* (boil 1 cup water, add strawberry-banana jello, Cruzan banana rum

17 *CHERRY COLA* (boil 1 cup coke, add cherry jello, 1 cup cold cola, 1/2 cup amaretto, 1/2 cup spiced rum)

18 *DREAMSICLE* (boil 1 1/3 cup water & 2/3 cup OJ, add orange jello, 1 cup vanilla vodka 1/2 cup raspberry or berry vodka, 1/2 cup KeKe Beach Key Lime Cream Liqueur)

19 *LIME IN THE COCONUT* (boil 1 cup water, add watermelon jello, 1 cup Malibu Coconut Rum)

20 *RED HOTS* (boil 2 cups water, add jello, 1/2 cup cold water, 2 cups Cinnamon Schnapps)

21 **SEX ON THE BEACH** boil 1 cup cranberry juice, add 3 oz pkg orange jello, 3 oz peach schnapps, 5 oz vodka

22 ***SOUR APPLE*** (in microwavable container, mix 1 small box sour apple jello, 1 pkg knox gelatin and 1 tbs sugar. Stir in 1 cup Mt. Dew and mix well. Microwave on high for 1 min. Stir until powder is dissolved. Mix 2 cups vodka & 3/4 cup Captain Morgan Coconut Rum. mix well and let sit 1 min. pour into cups and refrigerate.)

23 *SQUIRM* (boil 2 1/4 cup water, add 3 small pkgs any flavor jello, 2 cups vodka, 3/4 cup ice cold water. add 1 gummy worm to each shot before firm.

24 *CARIBOU LOU* (1/2 cup boiling water 1/2 cup pineapple juice boiled, add pineapple jello, 1/2 cup Malibu Rum, 1/2 cup Triplesec)

25 *JOLLY RANCHER* (boil 1 cup water, add melon jello, 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 cup apple pucker)

26 *PURPLE PEOPLE EATER* (boil 1 cup water, add grape jello, 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 cup watermelon pucker)

27 *BAHAMA MAMA* (boil 1 cup water, add watermelon jello, 1/2 cup Malibu rum, 1/2 cup peach schnapps)

28 *COSMOPOLITAN* (boil 1 cup water with a splash of lime juice, add cranberry jello, 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 cup triple sec)

29 *CHERRY BOMB* (boil 1 cup redbull, add cherry jello, 1 cup vodka and drop in one maraschino cherry, step up before firmed.)

30 *BLUE FIRECRACKER* (boil 1 cup water, add berry blue jello, 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 cup peach schnapps)

31 *WHITE LIGHTNING* (boil 1 cup water, add pina colada jello, 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 cup triple sec)

32*FUZZY NAVEL* (boil 1 cup water, add 3 oz orange jello, 2 oz vodka, 6 oz peach schnapps

33 *RED HEADED SLUT* boil 1 cup water, add cranberry jello, 1/2 cup peach schnapps, 1/2 cup jager

34 *MOJITO* (1 cup boiling water, 3 oz box lime jello, 6 oz white rum, 2 oz cold water. top with mint leaves chopped and crushed. (or substitute mint leaves with a splash of mint extract in the the boiling water.)

35 *STRAWBERRY DAQUIRI* (boil 1 cup water, add 3 oz package wild strawberry jello, 6 oz white rum, 1 oz sweet & sour or margarita mix.

36 *DEVILS KISS* 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 envelope of Knox Gelatin and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Goldschlager, and 1/4 cup of Bacardi-151. Stir well and wait until the liquid has cooled before pouring into jello shot cups. if you double up the Knox Gelatin in this one you can eliminate the cup serve these up as jigglers!!

37 *ANKLE BREAKER* 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 envelope of Lime Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of 151 Rum, and 1/4 cup of Cherry Brandy. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

38 *FIRECRACKER 2* 3/4 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Orange Jello and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/3 cup of Sloe Gin , and 1/3 cup of Spiced Rum and 1/3 cup of 151 Rum. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cup

39 **KOMANIWANALAYA** 2 cups of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Pineapple Jello and 1 box of Cranberry Jello (both 3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Amaretto, and 1/2 cup of 151 Rum. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

40 *RAIN MAIN* 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Orange Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Bacardi 151, and 1/4 cup of Melon Liqueur. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups

41 ADAM AND EVE 3/4 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Lemon Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Brandy, and 1/4 cup of Pomegranate Liqueur and 1/4 cup of Gin. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

42 ALABAMA SLAMMER 3/4 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Lemon Jello (3 oz) and stir until everything is completely dissolved and then add 1/3 cup of cold water. Next, add 1/3 cup of Amaretto, 1/4 cup of Southern Comfort, and 1/3 cup of Sloe Gin. Mix thoroughly until everything is well combined and the carefully pour into jello shot cups. Chill for 3 to 4 hours and serve.

43 ALL NIGHTER 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Cherry Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water and 1/2 cup of Watermelon Vodka. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

44 APPLE PIE 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Dissolve 2 boxes of Lemon Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Light Rum, 1/2 cup of Sweet Vermouth, 1/4 cup of Apple Brandy and 1/4 cup of Grenadine. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

45 BANANA BOAT 1 cup of water. Dissolve 1 box of Pineapple Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Coconut Rum , and 1/4 cup of Banana Liqueur. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

46 BANANA SPLIT 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Strawberry Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Vodka, and 1/4 cup of Banana Liqueur and 1/4 cup of Creme de Cacao. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

47 BAT OUT OF HELL 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Orange Jello (3 oz) and stir for at least 2 minutes until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of Red Bull, 1/4 cup of Rumand 1/4 Blue Curacao. Stir until well combined and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

48 BERMUDA TRIANGLE 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Orange Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Spiced Rum and 1/4 cup of Peach Schnapps. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot

49 BLACK CAT 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Raspberry Jello (3 oz) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Black Vodka, and 1/4 cup of Chambord. Stir well and wait until the liquid is about room temperature before pouring into jello shot cups.

50 BLACK WIDOW 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Grape Jello (3 oz) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 3/4 cup of Blackberry Vodka and 1/8 teaspoon of Ginger Powder. Stir well and cool slightly before pouring into jello shot cups. For a schnazzy garnish, drop a single blackberry in each cup before chilling

51 COUGH DROP 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 3 oz package of Strawberry Jello and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Jagermeister. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

52 CRYPTINI 1 cup of Hot Coffee. Dissolve 1 envelope of Knox Gelatin and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/3 cup of Iced Coffee, 1/3 cup of Vodka, and 1/3 cup of Kahlua. Stir well and wait until the liquid has cooled before pouring into jello shot cups.

53 FRENCH TICKLER 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Orange Jello (3 oz) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Cinnamon Schnapps and 1/2 cup of Vodka. Stir well and wait until the liquid has a chance to cool before pouring into jello shot cups.

54 HARVEY WALLBANGER 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 package of Orange Jello (3 oz) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/2 cup of Vodka and 1/4 cup of Galliano. Stir well until completely combined and wait until the liquid has cooled before pouring into jello shot cups.

55 JUICY FRUIT 3/4 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Pineapple Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of cold water, 1/3 cup of Vodka, and 1/3 cup of Melon Liqueur and 1/3 cup of Peach Schnapps. Stir well and cool

56 JAGERMASTER 1 cup of boiling water. Dissolve 1 box of Orange Jello (3 oz size) and stir until fully dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water, 1/4 cup of Jagermeister, and 1/4 cup of Amaretto, and a just a splash of Grenadine. Stir well and cool before pouring into jello shot cups

Merely Me - Just Everything!

Ok! So... wow! First blog entry of 2012! My friend Dawn has been busy blogging everyday for national blog month or something like that and I'm just getting around to this one. But it's still January so I'm not slacker right?? Yeah. Anyway, so here I am 2011 is done, thank God and I'm knee deep in 2012 :)

I'm still in college, all online classes this semester and I'm so glad! I hated going to campus and juggling kids and home life etc. Of course at some point the pace is really gonna pick up because...

FAST FORWARD! ---->>---->>---->> It's now April 2013 and the pace is in high gear!!! Ok so I came across this draft while I was looking over my personal blog. I had a class assignment to start a blog and blog about my experience with blogs and how I might use blogs in the classroom. I read the beginnings of this post and was just in awe of how things have changed for me and everyone, even Dawn!

I'm currently wrapping up my sophomore year at AASU, when I started this post I was attending Savannah Tech and had now idea that there even was such a thing as a sophomore in college! Online classes are a thing of the past...this semester I drive to Savannah Monday - Thursday for class (4 are on campus and 1 by God's grace is online) and have a 30 hour field observation at Lewis Frasier Middle School in Hinesville. I no longer feel like a stay-at-home-mom and sometimes I really miss it!

My sister Samie started college and is scheduled to PCS back to Georgia with her family. The chasm that was created in our family is mended for the most part and continues to mend well. James moved back to Georgia and started college as well. Richard now has bilateral cochlear implants whereas he only had the left side done when I started this. Dawn...well what can I say? She lost like a bunch of weight and is not only no longer plus sized she's like a size four! She doesn't blog as much, but she's as busy as ever. Things are on the upswing for all of us! What a difference a year makes!