St Patrick's Day Cupcakes!

Guinness and chocolate cupcakes, filled with Bailey's ganache and topped with a Bailey's buttercream frosting.

Oh. My.

I'd been thinking of what to make for St Patty's Day, and since I already tried soda bread last year, I was having trouble coming up with ideas on my own. (A blog about carrots, potatoes and cabbage just didn't sound all that exciting.) I was at Michael's buying some magnets and ran across these shamrock cupcake paper liners. I took it as a sign and snatched them up.

I wasn't planning on doing anything too "Irish" with the cupcakes other than a green and white theme, but one Google search later and I'd found the most delicious recipe! Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cupcakes. These babies were an absolute hit with everyone who tried them, so although they took a bit of work to make, it was worth every minute of it! Dense and rich chocolate, booze, cream, I mean really... how is that not a win?

Ingredients
*Makes about 25 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 Cup Guinness
16 Tbsp Butter (2 sticks)
3/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 Cup sour cream

Ganache:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (either chips, or finely chopped)
2/3 Cup heavy cream
2 Tbs butter
2 tsp Bailey's

Frosting:
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temp
3 Cups confectioners sugar, sifted
4-8 tbsp Bailey's (I used about 7)

Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners and preheat oven to 350. Combine Guinness and butter in a medium sauce pan and heat until the butter is melted.

Meanwhile, drink the remaining Guiness. (It's bad business to waste.)

After the butter melts, add the cocoa powder, whisking until you have a smooth consistency. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking soda together.

In another bowl beat the eggs and sour cream together until well blended.

Once the Guinness mix has cooled a bit, add it to the egg mixture and blend until just combined.

Now, gradually add the flour mixture while blender is on low and continue blending until it is thoroughly incorporated and you have a smooth batter.

Not the best picture, but man, was that batter gorgeous. It also smelled heavenly!

Fill the cupcake liners to 1/2 - 3/4 full and bake for 17-20 minutes. (Make sure a toothpick comes out clean before you remove these from the oven.)

Allow the cupcakes to stand in the tin about 5 minutes, and then take them out to finish cooling.

While the cupcakes are cooking/cooling, make your ganache filling. (My personal favorite... yum!)

Place  your chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering, and pour over the chocolate. Allow to sit for a few moments and then mix until the chocolate is melted. You can put it in the microwave for a few seconds as well, if needed. Add butter and Bailey's and stir well. Cutting the butter into small pieces will help it melt faster.

Set the ganache aside to cool and thicken a bit. You can put it in the refrigerator but make sure to stir it frequently so it doesn't start to harden.

Time to prepare the cupcakes for the filling. Take a paring knife and cut out the upper 1/2 - 3/4 of the cupcake. Now, cut a small bit off the bottom piece you just removed. There will now be room for your filling! (And you can eat those bottom pieces, too! They're rich, so you'll get full fast... trust me!)

When the ganache has cooled, use a spoon or piping bag to fill the holes about 1/2 way and replace the cupcake "tops".

It's time to make the icing! using your blender, beat the butter on high until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the sifted powdered sugar and blend well.

 Finally, add the Bailey's 1 Tbs at a time with your blender on low speed. Stop as soon as it starts to look like icing. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix a bit more... add more Bailey's if neccessary.

Now frost them! (Note: I am taking a cake decorating class soon, so my creations won't be this... Picasso-esque forever...)

The middle is my favorite part, for sure. Although you can definitely taste the alcohol in these, it isn't overwhelming and is very complimentary to the chocolate (which is SO nice and moist!).


I could go on for days about how delicious these are, but why don't you just make some and tell me all about it? (I kid, I kid!)

Happy (early) St Patty's Day!