The cake is ridiculously moist. Chocolate infused with a touch of stout. The ganache is silky and smooth. And the frosting? Soft and intoxicating. Yes, this is one of the tastiest things to come out of my kitchen. You can taste the alcohol but that's easily substituted if you don't want that flavor. The beer gets burned out but the Bailey's is loud and proud.
PLUS! While grocery shoppoing at the local global market I stumbled upon a hella cute apron! Only $9.00! Yes, I'm camera shy when it's just me. But look at the cuuuuteness! It has a whale on the pocket!Note: this makes just enough frosting to cover the cupcakes; feel free to double it up. It's also handy to have a apple core on hand; it's not necessary but makes things go by faster. Thank you for the recipe Smitten!
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 cup stout (I used 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
Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional- I used a teaspoon of Bailey's)
Baileys Frosting
3 cups confections sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)
Preheat oven to 350; line 24 cupcake tins.
For the cupcakes... 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 slightly.Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.For the filling... 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. Add the butter and whiskey (optional) and stir until combined.
While the ganache cools, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You can use an apple corer, a knife, or a round 1-inch cookie cutter. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake — aim for 2/3 of the way. Once the ganache has cooled (it should be done by now, you want it to be soft and thick), you can either pipe or carefully drizzle it in with a spoon.
For the frosting... 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. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. I added a tablespoon of Baileys after every cup of powdered sugar I slowly added.
Decorate however you like! I tried adding sprinkles but they just didn't do it for me. I like how classy they look by themselves. I did some of them in these cute square cupcake pans I found at Walmart the other day. Just testing them out, I think they have a lot of potential. Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!
