In the college years, St. Patrick's Day is about drinking cheap green beer then sleeping it off on a futon or dorm room floor. As you get older, it becomes more about celebrating with fun cocktails, great food, and tasty desserts. Irish Car Bomb cupcakes are a fun way to call back to those younger years without getting too literal. The cupcake itself is a moist chocolate cake, flavored with rich Guinness stout. They’re stuffed with a biting Jameson ganache and topped with flavorful, creamy Irish cream buttercream.br
Ingredients
For cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout beer
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups four
2 cups sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
For ganache filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 tsp. Jameson Irish whiskey
For Bailey's frosting:
2 cups butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
8 Tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream
Directions
Prepare the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer over medium head. Add cocoa and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl to combine. In the bowl of a mixer, beat eggs and Greek yogurt until combined. Add the Guinness mixture to the eggs and beat until just combined. Add flour and beat iefly to combine. Divide the batter into the muffin tin, ¾ to the top. Bake 18 minutes until cooked through. Cool completely before frosting and filling.
To prepare ganache, place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Head the cream until simmering then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute then use a spatula to stir until smooth and melted. Add in Jameson Irish whiskey and stir well until completely combined. Set aside.
To prepare icing, combine butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Beat until completely combined. Add in the Bailey’s Irish cream and mix until thoroughly combined.
To assemble the cupcakes, use the bottom of a 1 inch pastry tip to core out the center of each cupcake. Place a spoonful of ganache into the center of each cupcake. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the icing on top of the cupcakes, covering the ganache. Frost with sprinkles.
Makes 16 cupcakes.
--Kim Cooper--
