Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

Last year for St. Patrick's day I made Green Velvet Cupcakes.  This year I wanted to be a little more adventurous so I made Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.  I was a little wary, as I haven't baked a lot with booze and I didn't want the flavors to be too overpowering.  But these recipes married these flavors perfectly.  The Guinness Stout Chocolate Cupcake on it's own is one of the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever tasted.  This cupcake is now in my top 10 favorites.  I took it to my office's annual Pot O' Luck Luncheon and it received rave reviews.  Give it a try.  I'm sure it will end up as one of your favorites too.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Yield: Approximately 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 40 minutes ♦ Bake Time: 18 minutes  

Guinness Stout Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (granulated)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream (full-fat)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Prepare cupcake tins with 24 liners, and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine Guinness and butter over medium heat. Stir frequently, until the mixture comes to a soft boil. Remove from heat, and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until combined and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, flour, baking soda and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs and sour cream until creamy. Add the Guinness and chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat just until combined. Reduce the speed to low, and slowly add the flour mixture. Beat just until the flour is incorporated, then finish combining using a spatula, folding the mixture together until no white streaks remain.
Fill your cupcake liners no more than half full. Bake for 17 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Jameson Irish Whiskey Ganache Filling

Ingredients:
8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Jameson Irish Whiskey

Directions:
Prepare the cupcakes for filling. To do this, hollow out a circle in each cupcake, about 1/2 to 2/3 the depth of the cake. I used the metal edge of my pastry tip, but you can also use a spoon, a knife or a cookie dough scoop:

To make the whiskey ganache, pour the heavy cream into a medium, microwave safe glass bowl. Heat cream in microwave until it's steaming hot, but not boiling. Remove from microwave and add chocolate. Allow the chocolate to sit in the hot cream for 1 minute. Then, using a whisk, stir the chocolate and cream until the chocolate is melted. Add the butter and whiskey and continue to stir until smooth and shiny. Allow the ganache to cool until it's thick but soft. Using a piping bag or a spoon, fill each cupcake with ganache. Prepare frosting.

Baileys Irish Cream Buttercream

Ingredients:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners sugar
6-10 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

Directions:
To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the softened butter until it's pale and fluffy. Scrape the bowl as needed. Reduce the speed to low and add the confectioners sugar. Add the Irish cream and beat the frosting for 3-4 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired.  I dusted mine with gold edible glitter and crowned it them with golden sixlets.  These are delicious!!!

Enjoy!!!