irish car bomb cupcakes

          yes, you read that right. perhaps you’ve ordered one of these drinks at your fave irish pub. perhaps someone else ordered one for you against your will. but you drank it anyway. and it was so good. let’s see, a shot glass full of irish whiskey and bailey’s irish cream dropped into a pint of stout. what’s not to like? when i first encountered this recipe, i thought it so brilliant that i had gathered all the required ingredients and had them made with in hours. the booziness made me swoon!

first make the cupcake batter. traditionally, if you can call anything about this ‘traditional’,  this drink is made with an irish stout, like guinness. i used st. arnold winter stout. it is a bit sweeter than irish stout and works well in this recipe (unfortunately, it is only available in texas for now). it seems counter intuitive, but add butter and stout to a pan and melt:

then add your cocoa powder:

stir until smooth and remove from heat. allow to cool slightly.

then beat the sour cream and eggs in a large bowl. i prefer crema mexicana rather than sour cream. it is more like creme fraiche, a little thicker and richer than sour cream. you can find this in the supermarket if you live in an area with a large hispanic population. i thank the heavens everyday that i do.

then add your stout mixture after it has cooled a bit:

 add the flour 1/3 at a time. mix on low to prevent flour from flying all over kitchen:

after you bake the cupcakes, you will need to scoop out the centers to add your whiskey ganache. you could use a apple corer or grapefruit spoon. i used my melon baller like this:

then make your whiskey ganache and pipe (or spoon) in!

you may notice that the ganache is no longer shiny–i filled the cupcakes the day before frosting. i was glad i did because it made it a lot easier to frost. you can pipe or spread your frosting. i like the homemade, sweet look of hand spreading. i topped it with some turbinado (coarse grain, raw) sugar.

slainte!

 

 

irish car bomb cupcakes (adapted from smitten kitchen)

for the cupcakes:

1 cup stout (such as st. arnold (or stout from your own local micro brew) or guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream (i prefer crema mexicana)

preheat oven to 350°F. line 24-28 cupcake cups with liners. bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. cool a bit off the heat.

whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl until blended. add cooled stout mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. add flour mixture about 1/3 at a time and beat briefly on slow speed. using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. try not to overmix. divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 of the way. bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back about half way through, about 17 minutes. cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

ganache:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons irish whiskey (i used bushmill’s)

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 stir until smooth. if mixture is not completely smooth after stirring, 10-20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will help.  add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (or spooned in). meanwhile, using your melon baller or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. you want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. you can eat the centers while you are working to give you energy to finish up! put the ganache into a piping bag–or just use a spoon (no one will see the top of the ganache. it will be covered by frosting)–and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

frosting:*

3 to 4 cups confections sugar
2 sticks (1 cup or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons baileys irish cream (or milk or heavy cream)

*this is a double batch of frosting. be careful–this stuff is pretty rich!

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, a few tablespoons at a time. i only ended up using 2 cups of the powdered sugar using this method! then add your bailey’s or cream. spread or pipe frosting and enjoy!

houston found the rest of the stout: