Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day

All right, I’ve been tantalizing people with this recipe, so here it is. I made a couple changes to it, so those are noted as well.

Guinness, Jameson, and Bailey’s Chocolate Cupcakes
Found on sassy radish!

For the Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness
2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder I used Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 c. All-purpose flower
2 c. sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

For the Ganache Filling
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate I used Ghiradelli 70% cocoa bittersweet chocolate bars
2/3 c. heavy cream
2 Tbs. room temperature butter
1 to 2 tsp. Irish whiskey I kind of misread that step, and used 2 Tbsp whiskey. But it was good

For the Frosting
3 to 4 c. confections sugar I only used 1 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar–it seemed like it was getting sweet
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 to 4 Tbsp. Baileys I used 3 Tbsp. Baileys with Caramel

Make the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the filling:
Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes:
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way and circle it around until it comes out with the cake part inside. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Keep those to snack on – I did! Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. (It helps to slightly chill the ganache after you put it inside the piping bag – that way you can control how much you squeeze out.)

Make the frosting:
Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. By adding the sugar slowly, you get a smoother, less chalky taste to your frosting.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes. the pictures on this site are the ones I made. As you can see, we only did one round of stars, and then I dusted with more of the unsweetened cocoa powder

ENJOY!