Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Top of the mornin’ to ya and a Happy St. Patrick’s day to all from the Grammar Nazi!

No, not the Grammar Ninja, the Grammar Nazi! His Mom!

In honor of this great holiday, I’ve got a fabulous boozy dessert for you called an Irish Car Bomb cupcake which I found on a great site called the Brown Eyed Baker.

I know – all of you who’ve had this shot probably immediately thought, “Oh good Lord, gross.”, but this is a FABULOUS recipe. I would have never thought to put Guinness in a chocolate cupcake with Bailey’s frosting but, WOW…. These were great. I brought the excess to work today and got quite a few compliments and an empty plate to take back home.

I broke it into a two day event, baking the cupcakes Tuesday night so I wouldn’t be up late and tired and grouchy for St Paddy’s today. Cause no one likes a cranky redhead. Especially Mr. Andrew.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes (although, I only got 20 since I’ve never been good with filling the liners half full)
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Bake Time: 17 minutes

For the Cupcakes:

1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

To Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined.

Divide the batter among the cupcake liners (and try not to keep licking the spatula). Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

To Make the Whiskey Ganache Filling:

Finely 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, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth.

Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. It took a little bit longer than I though for the butter to melt, so I set my oven proof bowl on the warm burner to help it along. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

To Fill the Cupcakes:

The recipe calls for using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip) to cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down making a perfect hole in the middle of the cupcake. (I ended up just scooping it out with a knife since no one is going to see it under all the buttercream icing).

Transfer the ganache to a piping back with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. Or use a spoon and drop it in.

To Make the Baileys Frosting:

Using a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

Using your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired. I actually broke out my Wilton piping tips and piped the icing and had a lot of fun making various designs. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container, that is, if they last.