For the whiskey lover...

Alright ladies, as you know, I surprised my beau yesterday by driving an hour away to pick him up from the airport with his friend. The surprise was somewhat successful: he knows me too well apparently and kind of thought I would do something like that. The cupcakes, though, were 100% successful. I knew that there was a possibility that we would be stopping by his friend's house for dinner and to say hi to his family and girlfriend, so I made sure to take enough for everyone (as every good guest should do! *hint hint*). We didn't stay for dinner, but everyone still took one and loved them!

A few people asked me if I have the recipe and the answer is YES! I found it on Pinterest (not surprising) and changed a few things to my own preference and I was also short on time. Here is the link for the original recipe: Chocolate Jack Daniel's Cupcakes. My recipe is below. If you make them, please comment and let me know how you liked them!!

Chocolate Jack Daniel's Cupcakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hersey's Special Dark)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (all the dry ingredients).
3. In a separate bowl (I swear by my 4 cup measuring bowl!) combine the eggs, coffee, whiskey, buttermilk, and oil.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.
5. Spoon the mixture into prepared cupcake cups. I filled them up just over 3/4 of the way. (The batter rose up just enough to put frosting on without getting any on the cups.)
6. Bake in preheated oven about 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
7. Cool completely.

*Note: you can experiment with the amounts of Jack Daniel's and buttermilk. Just make sure the two come out to equal 2 cups. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of Jack and 1/2 cup of very strong coffee....obviously I omitted the coffee and just used Jack.

Unfortunately, I was very short on time so had to buy frosting (clearly not as good) but next time I make them I'll definitely be making the buttercream and ganache listed on the original recipe - which both contain more Jack Daniel's. Despite store-bought frosting, the cupcakes were very delicious and rich!

Enjoy!!

xo @SrattyPearls

New Year, New Surprises!

This past week has been ridiculously busy. In case you were wondering, I work at Victoria's Secret and since the semi-annual sale is going on, I've worked every day all day (except Wednesday because I was sick and actually had to call-in...which I hate doing.) On my spare time I've been trying to get organized for classes next week, which is hard since my Lilly planner hasn't arrived in the mail yet -- shame on me for not ordering it earlier.

New Year's Eve was an amazing night with my sisters and a few friends. Sunday was miserable. Although I love Starbuck's, I have to admit that Biggby is the place to go to help cure a hangover. They have these things called 'bragels' that are a toasted bagel (I love the asiago) with either turkey and havarti cheese or ham and cheddar (I love the turkey and havarti). Add some reduced fat cream cheese and that hangover will be gone in a half hour. Their coffee is fairly good, too, so it's definitely worth it.

I've been such a busy little bee so far today and it's not even noon! I was going to allow myself to sleep in, and, naturally, I end up waking up at 9:00 without an alarm and couldn't go back to bed. I finished all my errands and chores so now I can focus on what's really important....surprising my beau! He's flying in at an airport about an hour away. He left his car at a friend's house near to the airport and believes that friend is going to pick him up today, but I'm going to be there instead :) I'm also baking him some Jack Daniel's chocolate cupcakes (I'll post the recipe tomorrow or Monday!).

Surprises are a great way to show your beau (or anyone!) that you pay attention to what he likes and that you care about him. If he doesn't like surprises, then just forewarn him what you're doing - it'll still be a treat for him and fun for you! I don't know about you, but I always feel great after making someone else happy -- as long as I'm not sacrificing my own happiness or doing something that goes against what I believe in.

xo @SrattyPearls

"No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind." ~Taylor Swift