Week 7, March 17th, 2014 ~ St. Patty's Day Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Now these are some boozy cupcakes! I made them for people that greatly appreciate their liquor! Especially their Irish liquors. I usually make green velvet cupcakes for St. Patty's but I wanted to do something more interesting. I also want to make more alcoholic cupcakes! So whats better than Irish car bomb cupcakes for St. Patricks Day! I definitely went a little heavy handed on the alcohol! Especially with the Jameson chocolate ganache. So I would suggest adding less if you don't like the stronger liquor flavor like I do. I did find it wasn't as strong once it settled into the cupcake though. For those not familiar with an Irish car bomb (shame on you!...lol) it is a shot of Jameson and Baileys dropped into a glass of Guinness. So this cupcake is a Guinness chocolate cake filled with a Jameson ganache and topped with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting. The cake part was really moist and not too heavy but really chocolatey. The Guinness almost enhances the chocolate flavor and I am guessing the slight fizzyness from using a freshly opened beer contributed to the lightness. I have heard using soda in cupcakes has a similar effect. I do want to try cherry cola cupcakes eventually. Now I am not the biggest fan of Baileys. Had a not great experience where I drank it warm once and it was truly disgusting. It has been a while so I took one for the team and tried it again, and I enjoyed it much more in a frosting! You can't tell by looking at them since I doused them in sprinkles but I deviated from my usually Wilton 1M tip and used the Wilton 2D tip. It almost looked like frilly ruffles, which was kinda fun. The ganache was really chocolaty and had a strong whiskey flavor; which from eating the my sister has learned she probably doesn't like whiskey! She liked it as a whole though. So I would say proceed with caution!

This recipe makes 24 cupcakes (I only made 12 so if you half it half everything but the baking soda)

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder - I use Hershey's Special Dark
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined.
3. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly.
4.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. 
5. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Jameson

1. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl. In a sauce pan bring the cream to boil then pour the hot cream over the chocolate and butter. Let it sit for about 2 minutes. Stir until thick and glossy. Add in the Jameson and stir. Refrigerate for 5 min, and stir. Repeat this until the ganache is cool and is like a thick chocolate sauce.
2. Core your cupcakes- I have a couple different gadgets for this. I have one from Wilton but it is pretty small. It works best for mini cupcakes I think. Then I have one I got from Bed Bath and Beyond that is made by Chicago Metallic. That one is pretty big, I am still undecided on that one. You can also just use a knife, apple corer, or a pastry tip. Then I slathered some across the tops of the cupcakes. You could skip this part if you don't want so much of the ganache.

For the Baileys Frosting:

• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 2- 100mL bottles Bailey's Irish Cream (this is .84 cups so use your best judgement if you are using a normal bottle
• splash of vanilla extract

 Beat the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until its mixed well. Add the Baileys and vanilla, beat on medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy. You may need to add extra powdered sugar if it is too liquidy. I think I ended up adding another 1/2 cup. Then decorate as you wish!

On a side note I was at Home Goods and saw this gem of a deal:

Why would anyone spend 1,000 bucks on a large vase covered in safari animals? And at one point they wanted 1,500 for it! Though at $500 off I probably should of snatched it up! What was I thinking?