These Cupcakes are ‘Da Bomb!

… or that is at least what I am going to be calling them! Since it is the time of year where you see lots of St. Patrick’s Day themed thing, I kept stumbling across lots of recipes calling for Guinness, which I can not really take more than a few sips of… so using it in cooking I knew would be a better way for me to enjoy it. When I have really enjoyed Guinness, it has been mixed with chocolate so I just knew that I needed to make Stout Cupcakes & the perfect frosting for these is a Baileys buttercream! (This would also make a great cake recipe.)

The flavors of the stout cupcake (rich, light, & dense all at the same time) are perfectly balanced with the creamy sweet Bailey’s frosting. Topped with some Green Sugar Sprinkles (or shamrock sprinkles) and your St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes are all ready.

As I post this – I realize that St. Patrick was the Patron Saint of Ireland and brought Christianity from England to Ireland… so it is against Judaism to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!?  Hmmm. Well – here is how I figure it: I am very “not religious” (I consider myself someone who honors and appreciates tradition and honors/respects everyone more than someone who is religious/follows a religion) AND St. Patrick’s Day has been very commercialized – just like everything else… SO: thanks to modern commercialism, everyone can enjoy this holiday, wear some green, drink some Guinness, and eat their Americanized corned beef.

RECIPE

Cake: (from The Culinary Chronicles)

• 1 Cup Stout Beer
• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
• ¾ Cup Quality Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 1½  Teaspoons Baking Soda
• ¾ Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Large Eggs
• ⅔ Cup Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake cups with paper liners.

Melt your butter with the beer in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool slightly while working on the next phase.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In your mixing bowl, beat the eggs and the sour cream together. Add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly just to combine. Then (using a rubber spatula) fold the batter until completely combined.

Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way filled (for a nice dome – slightly less if you want a flatter cake). Bake about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely (this can easily be done one day & frost the next… spreads the cleaning out too)

Frosting: (from Pages, Pucks, & Pantry)

• 8-oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
• 4-oz. stick of unsalted butter, softened
• 2 Cups powdered sugar
• 6 Tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, add the cream cheese, butter and confectioner’s sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle (or pour by the shot-glass full) in the Bailey’s and beat until completely incorporated into the frosting.

Use your favorite pastry bag (or a freezer-sized ziploc bag) with a nice tip (either a large hole OR a large star-tip – I don’t know sizes, just make it look nice) and make circles starting either at the center or the edge… the more you play the easier it will get (and remember, these taste amazing so even if they don’t look perfect everyone will forget and just remember how awesome they tasted)!

* Frosting Note: after reading quite a few comments/feedback – this is just [barely] enough for all the cupcakes, but doubling it makes a lot of frosting… so I went with 1.5 times what the recipe calls for and it seemed to work out pretty well, although I still has some extra!

* GREEEN recipes can be found HERE

Happy St. Patrick’s Day… and enjoy any reason explore new corners of the globe through your kitchen!