Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

These really are best when eaten while camping, but St. Patrick's Day is an acceptable alternative. While Mason napped yesterday I made a batch of Smitten Kitchen's Whiskey and Beer cupcakes. One recipe made 3 jumbo cupcakes (or, as we like to say in our house, "Matt-sized" cupcakes), 10 normal-sized cupcakes, 8 minis and a small cake. Don't worry, we shared with work people.

Here is the recipe, so you can make your own. My birthday is coming up in less than three months. Just sayin'...

First, make your Guinness cupcakes.

1 cup Guinness

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour (I use whole wheat and they still taste amazing-- shhh)

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 beer and butter to simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add beer-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake about 17 minutes.

 

While your cupcakes are cooling, make your chocolate-whiskey filling.

1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Pour the chocolate chips into 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. Set it aside to cool and thicken up.

Now make your Baileys butter cream frosting.

1 box powdered sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or more...)

 

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. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined.

Now go back to your cooled cupcakes and use a small spoon (I actually used a strawberry-huller) and scoop out some of the middles.

Use a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off) to fill up the holes in the cupcakes with the chocolate-whiskey goodness. Frost those babies and enjoy!

Oh, and you'll have to cake left over from the parts you scooped out. Make cake balls with the extra frosting and chocolate! And then go run 10 miles to burn off the deliciousness. Sooo worth it though, trust me.