Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
In order to properly celebrate St. Patrick's Day a couple days ago, I decided to bring back a recipe that I fell in love with when I first made it two years ago: irish Car Bomb Cupcakes! The Guiness Stout is the perfect beer to enhance the chocolate flavor of the cupcake, and the "sweetness with a kick" that the Bailey's provides is the perfect match. This recipe, however, also calls for a ganache filling spiked with Irish whiskey. These cupcakes are delicious, and it'll be hard to stop after just one. You'll either end up pre-diabetic, or perhaps a little tipsy.
Here is the recipe I used, with some minor changes.
(Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker's recipe http://www.browneyedbaker.com/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/)
For the Cupcakes: 1 cup Guinness stout (About a bottle's worth) 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (I messed up and used all salted butter...still works) ¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (Toll House for me) 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups granulated sugar 1½ teaspoons baking soda ¾ teaspoons salt 2 eggs 2/3 cup sour cream
For the Whiskey Ganache Filling: 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I couldn't find it, so I used Toll House semi-sweet mini choco chips) 2/3 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream) 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (I used Jameson, but other Irish whiskies are good too)
For the Baileys Frosting: 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature 5 cups powdered sugar (You may not need that much, it just depends on how sweet you want it) 6 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream (Yummmm!)
*1 package of cream cheese* (This is something I added because I love a good cream cheese based frosting, but if you're not into it, it is not necessary)
*Hint: Most liquor stores sell mini bottle versions of alcohols used; this is great, because you don't need too much of each liquor, and you end up spending was less. I'm in California, so BevMo was the store for me.*
DIRECTIONS:
1. To Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt your butter in a medium sized saucepan and add your bottle of Guinness. Bring to a simmer at medium heat. Once simmering, stir in the cocoa powder until consistent. Let cool slightly.
2. Next, you'll need two relatively large bowls, one for liquids and one for dry ingredients. In one bowl, mix together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. In the other bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together (a whisky or fork will do), Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix. Now, little by little, add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir in until it reaches an even consistency. Pour batter among cupcake liners and bake until you can stick a fork in the center and nothing comes out. Cool.
3. To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling: Poour your chocolate pieces into a bowl that will be able to withstand heat. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer (medium heat) and then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and then stir it from the center outward until smooth. Combine with butter and whiskey. Let the ganache cool until it is thick but also soft.
4. To Fill the Cupcakes:After the cupcakes have cooled, take a spoon (a small one if you have it) and stick it about two thirds of the way into the cupcake. Make a circle with the spoon, and scoop the center out. Take another spoon to scoop out the ganache sppon it into the hole you've created in the cupcake.
5. To Make the Baileys Frosting: Whip the butter and cream cheese together; if you have a mixer, definitely use it, but if you don't it is going to take a while. Add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys.
6. Frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container. I often use a spoon since I don't have any of nice pastry equipment, haha.
Need something to listen to while you make your cupcakes? Check out the "Irish Car Bomb" playlist under "Playlists".
