Guinness Cupcakes with Whisky Ganache and Baileys Frosting

In honour of St. Patrick.

Alright, there is one more day for the Easter Giveaway. Submissions end Sunday at midnight Saskatchewan time.

It is St. Patrick’s Day so you must wear green. Yes, it’s required to wear some sort of green on this very special day, especially when you lived in Ireland at some point or another. This is the case for me, I spent 6 months in Northern Ireland, which is basically Ireland. It was a great time and I enjoyed it much and learned from the people. I was lucky enough to catch a Patty’s Day in Derry, which was really fun. All the Irish are out and about (which they usually are anyway), wearing their green and having their pint.

So, in honour of St. Patrick’s Day I had to make some sort of dessert. (I would love to make some Irish Stew as well but no time this weekend.) The dessert had to include some Guinness, it’s the Irish thing to do. Fortunately, a friend pinned this recipe on Pinterest and made it herself. Since she liked it so much and it is full of Irish alcohol I had to do it. *g*

Guinness Cupcake Ingredients:

– 1 cup stout (such as 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

Melt the butter in a pot or sauce pan and add the Guinness, stir well and let simmer for a bit. Stir in the cocoa powder and use a whisk to combine it well until you have a smooth mixture. Set aside so it can cool.
Cream the sour cream and eggs together in a mixer and add the Guinness mix, combine slightly. In a different bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt and add to the wet ingredients. Slightly mix and then use a spatula to fold in completely.
Fill your liners about half full so that it won’t spill over and bake at 180°C for about 25 min or until the skewer comes out clean. Let it cool on a wire rack.

Tip 1: I find 2 cups of sugar too much so I started with just 1 cup. After the batter is ready I taste tested and I decided to add a bit more but not the whole 2 cups.

Whisky Ganache:

– 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
– 2/3 cup heavy cream
– 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
– 2-3 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Put the chocolate in a heat resistant bowl and then heat the cream in a little pot. Let it simmer a bit and then add to the chocolate. Let it sit so that the chocolate can melt, add the butter so that it can melt as well. Then stir it up until smooth and add the Whisky.

For you to know: I used Whisky, not whiskey. What’s the difference you ask? Whiskey is the Irish way of spelling it, Whisky is the Scottish way of spelling. That also makes a difference for the drink, e.g. whiskey is produced in Ireland, Whisky is produced in Scotland.

Baileys Frosting:

– 4-5 cups confections sugar
– 2 ½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 6-7 tablespoons Baileys

Cream the butter until fluffy, turn speed to slow and add icing sugar spoon by spoon. If you add too much it will raise dust. Then add the Baileys, you might want to add a bit more to get the right flavour.

Tip 2: I didn’t use those 4-5 cups of sugar, I am sure of that. I always find the icing too sweet that way. You can stick to that or omit a bit, up to you. Oh, and I am very sure I used more Baileys. *haha*

Now to put the whole thing together: take a 1 inch round cookie cutter and cut out a hole. You want to dig in a bit but make sure you don’t hit the bottom. A little spoon will do the trick. Then fill your ganache into a icing bag and fill the hole to the top. Finally, fill the frosting into an icing bag with a tip, I used the 1M from Wilton. Swirl your frosting on and sprinkle with some sugar shamrocks or green sprinkles.

Happy baking!