Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! We celebrate a time where the town turns green and the festivities last all week long.
The holiday started over a thousand years ago. Saint Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in Ireland as a religious day of feasting and dancing. Celebrated on March 17, the day marks the death of the fifth century patron saint of Ireland Saint Patrick.
We have all heard the tale of Saint Patrick banishing all the snakes from Ireland making him one of the most known Christian figures. Yet, History.com says it is a fabrication brought on by hundreds of years of sensationalist storytelling. The fact remains that Saint Patrick’s life is still shrouded in mystery.
Saint Patrick was born in Britain at the end of the fourth century. When he was 16 years old, Saint Patrick was captured by Irish Raiders as they attacked his family’s estate. After spending six years as a slave in Ireland, Saint Patrick left heading back to Britain where he decided to preach Christianity in Ireland while converting some of Ireland to Christianity.
To teach Christianity, Saint Patrick chose to incorporate the rituals still held by the Irish into his teaching. The Celtic cross was his creation. Being a people of a nature-based pagan religion, Saint Patrick placed the sun, a god of the Irish, onto the Christian cross as a way of drawing in the mass with a symbol they can recognize.
Interesting fact: the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City and not in Ireland. On March 7, 1762, Irish soldiers who were part of the English military marched down New York City to the sounds of native music boasting Irish pride in America through organizations called “Irish Aid.”
In 1848, the different “Irish Aid” organizations decided to join forces to host one large Saint Patrick’s Day parade rather than many smaller ones. To this day, the annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City is the world’s oldest civilian parade with over 100,000 participants. The parade draws millions of spectators from around the world.
Saint Patrick’s Day has taken on a much different form of celebration, especially in college towns. March 17 is now a holiday where the point has become to drink and dance as much as possible. After all, who doesn’t get excited about the prospect of green beer?
So this year, before running off to the local pubs, try this, a Whiskey Chocolate Cupcake with a Baileys frosting.
Recipe Makes 12 cupcakes:
Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons whiskey
1/3 cup yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Baileys
3 ounces chocolate, melted
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and place your muffin cups in the muffin tin.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, whiskey, yogurt and sugar until well combined.
4. Fill your muffin cups about 1/2 with batter and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before icing.
5. To make the frosting: in a large mixing bowl, beat heavy until soft peaks form. Then add the Baileys and melted chocolate to the frosting and combine well.
6. Pipe or spread the frosting on top and have a great Saint Patrick’s Day!