St. Patrick’s Day Celebration with Green Mini Cupcakes

My daughter’s class is having a mini celebration for St. Patrick’s day with green bagels, green grapes and green juice. As I was volunteering to send some Irish butter, my daughter expressed her disappointment about not having some green cupcakes for St. Patty’s day. So, of course as a responsible (and gullible) Mom, I volunteered to bake some. She was overjoyed as we decided to check with the teacher first.
Once we found out it was a go- I started looking at recipes online. There was one in Martha Stewart’s site that looked good. I decided on making the mini ones- no reason for 23 kids to be running around with tons of sugar in their bodies.

The recipe was enough to make two batches of 24 mini cupcakes. I didn’t have two of the same 24 cupcake pans so I decided to make 24 mini and 6 regular sized cupcakes. That way the two teachers can have regular sized ones. I used my usual white whole wheat flour, evaporated cane sugar and extra light olive oil. If you want to use butter instead- one cup is equivalent to 2 sticks. I also added zest of a Meyer lemon to give the cupcakes some extra flavor. If you don’t have a Meyer lemon, use a lemon or an orange instead. The frosting was delicious with cream cheese, vanilla extract and the butter- yes, I used butter in here- there is really no substitute for it in frosting. Overall the cupcakes looked beautiful with the bright green sugar on top.

St. Patrick’s Day reminds me of my all time favorite vacation to Ireland. It is the most beautiful country with super friendly people I have ever been to. We flew into Shannon and stayed in a beautiful town called Dingle. It is a gorgeous little town that has the most amazing restaurants and vistas. We ate amazing food and for someone who is not a beer gal, I drank it with every meal. I feel the urge to go back every year around this time as I hear tourism ads on the radio to Ireland and feel the weather changing.

I guess I will look at the green cupcakes and think of the gorgeous landscape in the beautiful country, Ireland. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you!!!

• 3 cups white whole-wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Zest of one Meyer lemon or regular lemon

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Keep aside.

• 1 cup extra light olive oil
• 2 cups evaporated cane sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup low fat milk
• 25 to 30 drops green coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans. Makes approximately 48 mini cupcakes (cooking time approximately: 12 to 15 minutes) or 26 regular sized cupcakes (cooking time approximately: 18 to 22 minutes).

Cream the oil and sugar in an electric mixer till off-white, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between. Add the extract and mix. Alternate the flour mixture and milk in 3 batches, mixing well in between each addition. Add the green coloring and mix well.  Pour into the cupcake pan and bake till done. (Cooking times above)

Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 to 2  tablespoons milk
• Desired amount of green coloring
• Green sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter, extract, sugar, milk and green coloring in a medium bowl. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes or till everything is mixed well and smooth. Use immediately.

Frost the cupcakes and top with the green sugar.