Irish Cupcakes

It’s St. Patrick’s Day and here is my Guinness recipe, as promised. First, though, a disclaimer. I’m not even the teeniest bit Irish. Not even close. None. Nothing. However, I love Guinness. A lot. Here’s some proof:



(that’s me at St. James’s Gate in Dublin)

Anyway, I saw this recipe back in January and thought “daaang! Perfect Paddy’s day recipe!” So here we are, today, and I have found an excuse to cook with both Guinness and Bailey’s. These are so delicious, though, that no one should need an excuse. The original recipe has these cupcakes filled, but though I do love a filled cupcake, I just didn’t feel like doing the extra work. Plus, not everyone likes a filled cupcake. These are amazing this way and I will have to restrain myself from eating all of them.

Irish Cupcakes modified from Chocolate Beer Cupcakes from dinneranddessert.wordpress.com:

Makes 24 cupcakes

For the cupcakes-
1 c. stout Guinness
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ c. unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

For the frosting-
3 to 4 c. confectioners sugar (3 cups was fine for me)
½ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 Tb. Bailey’s



Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. 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 an 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, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Mine took closer to 18/19 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

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 Bailey’s and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. 4 tablespoons of Bailey’s made this frosting perfect.



Ice and decorate the cupcakes. I don’t have a pastry bag, so I filled a zip baggie with the frosting and cut the corner. This worked well for most of them, but then the top of the bag wouldn’t close and started to make a mess, so I frosted the last 4 the way I usually do. It doesn’t really matter though because these are so good, you’ll just eat them all up anyway.

I plan on sharing these with some friends, especially those more Irish than I am, but it will be difficult to not eat them all tonight!