Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Wow! What a crazy beautiful weekend we just had! The weather has been nothing short of fantastic! In fact, it has been so wonderful that I chose to enjoy the weather instead of keeping up with my blog! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

St. Patrick's Day was a blast. We (Steve) had some friends over and we (I) made some food for everyone to enjoy. There were reubens, jello/cream shamrocks, Dubliner cheese and crackers, LOTS of beer, and of course...Irish car bomb cupcakes!

Everything turned out great and the cupcakes were an explosion (get it? car bomb? ok, I'm done trying to be funny...for now) of boozy goodness. The flavors together were like a St. Patrick's Day party for your mouth. I'm pretty sure that I am completely in love with the Irish cream frosting, though. If you never make these awesome cupcakes, please...please...at least try the frosting!

There were many compliments (and an empty tray at the end of the night) on these and I can't wait to experiment with more cupcakes of the boozy variety in the future!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (source: Smitten Kitchen)

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1 C. stout beer (Guinness)
• 1 C. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 C. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 C. sour cream

 

  Irish Whiskey Ganache Filling

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 C. heavy cream
• 2 T. butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp. Irish whiskey

 



Irish Cream Frosting

• 4 C. powdered sugar
• 1/2 C. unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
• 5-6 T. Irish Cream

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

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, set aside. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream. 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 until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

For the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl, set aside. 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.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.(I used an apple corer.) You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. 
 
For the frosting: Whip the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Irish cream and whip it until it is the right consistency.