Kentucky Derby Cupcakes

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Kentucky Derby week. This weekend we hosted a Kentucky Derby themed couples shower for my brother-in-law and his fiance. I somehow convinced her to allow we to throw a Derby themed shower, because anyone who knows me knows I am gaga over Derby. I figured she would tell me my theme was overdone...but no, she allowed it! I will post more about the party later with some additional recipes, but with plenty of time for you to get your grocery list together for your own Derby party this weekend, I wanted to give you the recipe for these amazing Kentucky Derby Cupcakes. Maker's Mark Icing. What more do I need to say? They are phenomenal! If you are a novice baker, no worries, so am I! Since I was cooking for a party, I made about 36 cupcake with this recipe.

Kentucky Derby Cupcakes

3 cups Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (or more, depending on your obsession with chocolate chips, whoops) of semi-sweet chocolate chip mini morsels.
1 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons of Maker's Mark Whisky
1 cup of softened unsalted butter
1 and a 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
4 eggs
You can also add 1 and 1/2 cups of chopped walnuts if you wish...I did not because my future sister-in-law is allergic to tree nuts.

Since I am a novice baker like you, I dump all ingredients into my stand mixer and mix them together. Then I grab my tablespoon measuring spoon and scoop about two tablespoons worth into lined muffin trays. I found these awesome gold cupcake liners at JoAnn's Crafts to go with the gold theme of our party, but any standard cupcake liner will do. I baked them at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Maker's Mark Amazing Icing

2 cups unsalted butter
5 cups powdered sugar (The checkout guy at Walmart asked me, what's with all the sugar??)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Maker's Mark Whisky
About 2 tablespoons of milk.

Make sure you start your butter at room temperature, so it is nice a soft. Put it in your stand mixer and whip it good-for about 5 minutes. Put your mixer on the lowest setting and slowly add in your powdered sugar. Once your sugar and butter are combined, add in your vanilla extract and your Maker's Mark. Depending on your consistency, add in a few splashes of milk. I could tell by looking at it that it was a little too thick for piping...so I added the milk and it was the perfect consistency. If you accidentally spill too much milk in your mixer because you've been drinking the Maker's Mark...just add in some more powdered sugar. If you don't have a stand mixer you can always use a hand mixer! My mother-in-law bought me a stand mixer after I made 100 cupcakes by hand for our fall party. I think she felt bad for me.

When the cupcakes are nice and cool, ice them with your amazing icing! I bought a set of Wilton cake decorating tips at Walmart a long time ago that have been so helpful when icing cupcakes. You can get the bag liners at Walmart too. Get an oversized plastic stadium cup, fold the bag over the sides of the cup, and fill the bag about halfway with icing.

I made these cupcake toppers with my new Cricut Explore-which has changed my life forever:) I am now officially a craft-a-holic. I also made chocolate horses for favors for the shower, and used the small sized chocolates from the mold for a cupcake topper as well. I found the mold on Ebay.

Enjoy!