Thursday, March 15, 2012

Guinness, Baileys, and Whiskey Cupcakes


Another St. Patrick's day (themed) dessert that I attempted to bake. Who can refuse Guinness infused chocolate cupcakes filled with whiskey chocolate ganache, and topped with Baileys cream frosting? I know I can't...

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
  • 1 cup Guinness beer
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Guittard dark chocolate powder)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
For the chocolate ganache:
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2-3 tablespoons Irish whiskey
For Baileys frosting:
  • 4-5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6-7 tablespoons Baileys
Directions:
  • To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake tins with liners. Bring 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup butter to simmer in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
  • Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl to blend. Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add Guinness butter mixture to the egg mixture and continue beating until just combined. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on low 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 centers comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on wire rack completely. 
  • To make the chocolate filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer to the 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 and stir until combined.
  • To 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 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. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
  • To make Baileys frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes. You want to get it 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 Baileys and whip it until combined. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with the wide tip. Pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes.
Make 24 cupcakes.
Recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen



21 comments:

  1. Those look wicked good, particularly that divine buttercream. I'm new to your site, but I love the clean look of it and the photos are lovely--now following you.

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    1. Thanks for the nice comment and the follow :)

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  2. Beautiful photography of some gorgeous cupcakes! Yum :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  3. Very nicely done! I love that they just have a sprinkle of green on them :-)

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  4. Love the festive-ness of these cupcakes!

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  5. OMG,these sound killer and they look beautiful. I'm ready.

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  6. Yummers! Definitely gonna try these!

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  7. Simple yet elegant cupcakes. I have no doubt it tastes as good as it looks. Nice photos.

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    1. I'm so following your blog. It is fantastic!

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  8. Wonderful looking cupcakes..Love your photos and presentation!!! Well done!

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  9. I made these yesterday and everyone said they were the best cupcakes they ever had. Thanks so much for the recipe. I was a little confused about the butter requirement with the frosting though, so I just winged it (luckily it turned out great). 2 1/2 cups of butter or 2 1/2 sticks of butter?

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    1. Heather,

      That's exactly what everybody here said about the cupcakes. They loved them! I'm so glad that you tried and enjoyed the recipe. My apology for the confusion, it's 1 cup of butter (2 sticks). Fixed it :)

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  10. Im craving some cupcakes in a bad way and these sound awesome.

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  11. look good, but coming from Northern Ireland I think you could have thought of a better name!!

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    1. I deeply apologize if the name is offensive.
      I did not invent the recipe nor the name, there's a link at the bottom that can bring you to the site where I got the recipe from.
      However, my understanding is that Irish Car Bomb is the name of the popular drink cocktail here in the US (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Car_Bomb) and the original author of the recipe was merely trying to come up with the cupcake version of the drink.

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  12. To store these cupcakes, would you keep them in an airtight container in the fridge or on the counter? Thanks!!!

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    1. Sorry for the delay in replying :)
      How I store my cupcakes really depends on the weather, really. In the winter, or if it's reasonably cold, countertop is OK. But in summer days, I'd like to keep them in the fridge.

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  13. The recipe sounds great. The photo is terrific. The name of the cupcake troubles me.

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  14. The name of the cupcakes also upsets me. Look up ' Omagh bombing' - That was a car bomb. Friends and families killed. Would you be able to call it 'African American car bomb cupcake' ?
    I'm sure it tastes as good as it looks but be aware of how you name them. Yes I read your earlier reply but when I name something I do a lot of research on the internet first.

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    1. DID you read the reply?? SHE didn't name them. The recipe was adapted from another site. Thus, the name was kept the same, since it was not originally hers to name.

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