Irish Carbomb Cupcakes

I love seasonal baking.  I'm talking apple/cinnamon/pumpkin in the fall, peppermint and chocolate in the winter, citrus and fruit in the summer...but spring always has me caught.  My mind goes floral but I haven't gone much further than lavender (with my Almond Lemon lavender cupcakes).  March is the only springtime month that comes easy.  March means St. Patrick's Day, which means bringing out one of my favorites: Irish Carbomb Cupcakes!

My good friend Christina of All's Fare Food Blog shared my recipe with her readers last year, and I am excited to post it here today with new pictures.  These treats bring the flavors of one of my favorite "shots" (can you call it a shot?) together into a cupcake with Guinness Chocolate Cake, Jameson chocolate ganache filling and Bailey's Irish Cream frosting.

I got an early start this year and baked my first batch of these cupcakes in February to say thank you to my new coworkers.  I've recently started a new job, and I'm sure you all know how the first couple of months go.  There is a lot to learn and a lot of my new coworkers have been awesome helping me along the way so I thought they deserved some boozey-cupcakes.  They disappeared fast, good move by me!

Here is the recipe that I adapted from Smitten Kitchen, this makes about 2 dozen cupcakes - enjoy!

Need:

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 1 c. Guinness (pour first to let it settle)
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temperature
• 3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 c. sour cream

Jameson Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
• 1 nip of Jameson Irish Whiskey

Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting (makes enough for 12...make two batches to have enough for all 24 cupcakes):

• 3 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 nip of Bailey's Irish Cream

Do: 

1) Make the cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350F and prep cupcake pan with liners.  
• Bring 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
• Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.
• Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and 3/4 tsp. salt in a large bowl to blend.
• Using an electric or stand mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl until light and creamy. 
• Pour Guinness/chocolate mixture into the egg/sour cream bowl and beat to combine. 
• Add flour mixture and beat for about 1 minute on low.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.  Be gentle, but make sure everything is well-mixed. 
• Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for about 17 minutes or until a cake tester (toothpick in my case!) comes out clean.  
• Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack. 

2.  Make ganache (you can start this while the cupcakes are cooling)

• Pour chocolate chips into a heat-proof bowl.  
• Heat the cream in a separate pot until it simmers, then pour over the chocolate.
• Let the cream sit on the chocolate for 1 minute, and then stir until smooth.  If the chocolate has not melted enough to stir it smooth, you can pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds and stir again.
• Add the butter and whiskey, and stir until combined. 
• Let the ganache cool until it thickens up a bit.  I put mine in the fridge for about 40 minutes and stir once every 10 minutes per Smitten's suggestion.

3.  Fill the cupcakes

• Use a cupcake corer ($5 at Williams-Sonoma), apple corer, wide piping tip, 1-inch cookie cutter, knife, whatever you have on hand to cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.
• Save your centers to make a tastie! (A tastie is what I call a small bite of your cake that you can dab frosting on to make sure it tastes good without eating a whole cupcake)
• Give the ganache one last good stir, fill a piping bag or ziplock baggie and cut off a corner, and squeeze the ganache into each cupcake.  It's okay if it is a little over-filled, people will love it and you can cover it with frosting later.

4.  Make the frosting

• Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes.  You want it really light and fluffy, I like to use the whisk attachment for this.
• Once the butter is whipped, slowly add your powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
• When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, add in the Bailey's and an extra splash of Jameson if you have extra for good measure, and whip until combined.
• You can add more sugar or more liquid (milk, or booze, either one!) to thicken or thin out the frosting.

5.  Decorate!  Now you're ready to frost your cupcakes any way you like.  Enjoy!

Here's one of my tasties; a cupcake core, a dab of ganache and a dot of frosting- delish!

Here are my cupcakes all filled, pre-frosting