Irish Cupcakes

I hope everyone had a nice St. Patrick's Day!  Tony's been out of town all week, and coming back home today, so we'll be celebrating a day late.  I have some corned beef simmering in the slow cooker, and carrots, potatoes, and cabbage on hand to roast right before dinner.  I can't wait, since we only enjoy corned beef once a year!

Earlier this week, we held another bake sale at work to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  You can read about the first sale here.  Last time I made 100 cupcakes, but based on the success of the last one, this time I made about 130!  I made around 60 Vanilla Bean Cupcakes (recipe previously posted here) and about 70 Irish Cupcakes.  It's a lot of work to make 130 cupcakes, but not so bad if you plan it out in on a step-by-step basis.

I started by baking the cupcakes first.  I made three batches of the Irish cupcakes, and then two batches of the vanilla bean.  Then I started on the ganache filling.  While the ganache cooled, I was able to scoop the middles out of all the Guinness-chocolate cupcakes, then fill each hole with the cooled ganache filling.  Finally, I made a large batch of the Baileys frosting to frost all 70 of the Irish cupcakes.  Then I made a large batch of the vanilla bean frosting to frost all 60 of the vanilla bean cupcakes.

These Irish Cupcakes are called "Irish Car Bomb" cupcakes by the original source.  This name comes from the popular Irish Car Bomb drink, which involves a shot of Baileys Irish Cream and Irish whiskey dropped into a pint of Guinness.  However, after reading the comments on the original post, it appears that some are sensitive to this name (connecting it to the actual car bombs in Ireland as opposed to the drink), so I've decided to simply name them Irish Cupcakes.

This Irish Cupcake recipe consists of a Guinness-chocolate cupcake, with a Jameson whiskey spiked ganache filling, and Baileys buttercream frosting.  Although this may seem like a rather boozy cupcake, the amount of alcohol is just right--there's just enough to lend the cupcake its flavor without being too overpowering.  I think that the three alcohols in this cupcake are a perfect combination!  This cupcake got rave reviews at our bake sale, with several people requesting the recipe.  Well, here it is, for you and others to enjoy!

Irish Cupcakes
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Recipe slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Yield:  24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the whiskey-ganache filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp Irish whiskey

For the Baileys frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
8 Tbsp Baileys Irish Cream

Directions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.  Set aside.

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.

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.  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.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined.

Divide the batter among the cupcake liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the whiskey-ganache filling:
Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl.  Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate.  Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth.  Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.  Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be scooped or piped.

To fill the cupcakes:
Using an apple-corer, 1-inch round cookie cutter, or (my method) the base of a large decorating tip, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down.  Use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop out the remainder of cake that did not lift out.  Once all cupcake centers are removed, use the 1/4 teaspoon to scoop ganache and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

To make the Baileys frosting:
Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip 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 all of it is incorporated.  Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until frosting is light and fluffy.

Using your favorite decorating tip, frost the cupcakes and decorate as desired.  Store cupcakes in an airtight container.

Notes:

• I used Jameson Irish whiskey, but you can use whatever Irish whiskey you prefer.
• I created the candy shamrock decorations by melting green candy melts in a plastic squeeze bottle and piping the shamrock shape onto waxed paper.  Once the candy is cooled, you can easily peel off the waxed paper and place on top of each cupcake.
• The boxes seen in the photos were purchased from BRPBoxShop.  Their boxes are good quality, they have the fairest prices...and did I mention, FREE ground shipping?!