Girl Behind the Apron: Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Everybody loves cupcakes. They are fun, cute, and endlessly customizable. Cupcakes with beer and hard liquor = even better. Although I do love a good cupcake like the next person, they are truly the remedial treat of the patisserie world. If you can make cake batter, you can make cupcakes. So it irks me that so many classically trained pastry chefs have settled by just making cupcakes, and only cupcakes day in and day out. We don't even make cupcakes in my patisserie program because they are so simple and many of my chefs have mocked said cupcake makers. So since cupcakes are so simple in nature, but so fun to make, one should thrive for perfection and come up with creative flavor combinations that really can outshine a plain chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet cupcake.

Adam's birthday was on Monday, I offered to make him a birthday treat. I wanted to try something I don't bake often, and then a light switch went off. I thought about chocolate stout and how its used in baking and then remembered Adam's obsession with Guinness and it was settled, my birthday treat was born.

A Guinness cupcake with Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream. And it was delightful.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream
(recipe adapted from Dave Lieberman) - minus his frosting recipe
*my own little touches

-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup brown sugar*
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 12 oz bottle of Guiness
- 4 oz [1 stick] butter, melted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*

Buttercream
(my recipe)
- 1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
- 16 oz butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt

Grease or put papers in muffin pans [makes 24 cupcakes]. Preheat oven to 350F.

To make the cupcakes: whisk together the melted butter, and Guinness [make sure its room temp, or it will solidify the melted butter].

Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix with the sugars.

In a mixer: Combine the Guinness, butter, vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well incorporated. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and beat until no lumps and everything is mixed nicely. Add chocolate chips and stir by hand. Do not over mix, we don't want any gluten development here!

Divide the batter equally, filling each about 3/4 the way up. I like to use an ice cream scoop, its just easier. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Insert toothpick to see if it comes outclean, to check for doneness

Cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then cool on a wire rack completely before icing, or it will melt off.

To make the buttercream: in a mixer with a whip attachment, whip the butter until smooth, add the salt and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, in increments or it will go all over the place. Add the baileys and whip until smooth. Taste for adjustments.