Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

If you are unfortunate, as I am, and had to spend St. Patrick's Day at work, these cupcakes are a perfect way to celebrate.  Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, as they have so affectionately been names, are a chocolate cake made with stout, filled with a Jameson Irish Whiskey chocolate ganache, and finally topped with a Bailey's Buttercream.

I made the recipe last year & it was a big hit. I knew I couldn’t show up to work today without these! I wish I could take the credit for these delicious cupcakes, but the recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs, smittenkitchen.com.  As expected, these cupcakes were thoroughly enjoyed by my coworkers today.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

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 an 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, and bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 18 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

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. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Use the “cone method” to carve a hole out of the centers of your cupcakes to make room for the filling. Discard (or eat!) the pieces.

Baileys Frosting
6 to 8 cups confections sugar
2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
4 to 6 tablespoons Baileys

Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, pour in the Baileys, starting with 4 tablespoons, and increasing to reach your desired consistency.