When Irish Eyes are Smilin'

Ah St. Patrick's Day...the one day out of the year when those with no more than a smidgen of Irish heritage ("My 17th cousin twice removed is Irish!") can go out and celebrate with a pint of green beer and nobody asks questions. Mostly because everyone's drunk. 

In honour of my more than 1/17th Irish heritage, this week I decided to whip up some Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. If you've ever heard of an Irish Car Bomb or, more bravely, tried one, you know these drinks can pack a punch! Take half a pint of Guinness then, in a shot glass, mix an ounce of Bailey's Irish Cream and an ounce of Irish Whiskey. Hold the shot glass above the pint, drop it in and chug the whole thing. That's how to party, St. Patty's style!!

These cupcakes combine a moist chocolate cupcake with hints of Guinness and a sweet Bailey's Irish (Butter)cream. The result? Well, give them a try and see! :) 



Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes


First we need some ingredients:

The Guinness and butter go into a saucepan:

While all that is coming to a simmer, in a large bowl, sift the sugar, flour, salt and baking soda. 

Once the butter and Guinness mixture has come to a simmer, add the cocoa powder and whisk until it becomes a smooth, chocolatey mixture.

Put it aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in your mixer bowl, mix together your sour cream and eggs (which really doesn't sound like an appealing combination now that I'm typing it out...I promise, it'll be good!)

Once that's mixed, add the previously prepared chocolate mixture and mix everything together.

Now, I promise that I didn't get into the Guinness or the Baileys, but I forgot to take a picture while adding the flour mixture. But, the next step is to slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the Guinness mixture and stir until everything is smooth.

I did, however, remember to take the pictures of the batter in the pretty, pretty cupcake liners!! :) I managed to fill all 24 for once. This recipe make a lot of batter!

Exactly 17 minutes in the oven at 350F (ovens vary, yada yada) and the smell in my kitchen was so good!! Despite the fact that the batter reeked of Guinness (and I HATE the smell of beer) the final product turned out spectacularly!!

The frosting is a simple buttercream, but instead of using cream, I substituted 4 tablespoons (maybe a little more :) of Bailey's Irish Cream. It was SUPER thick, but I think my butter wasn't quite at a cooperative room temperature. It got way easier to work with afterwards!!

A little piping and the result was an adorable cupcake fit for a Saint! :)

Sláinte! 

Happy Baking!!

Crystal 

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Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes


1 cup of Guinness
1 cup of unsalted butter (cut into 1 inch pieces)
3/4 cups unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of salt (a few pinches)
2 large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream 


Preheat to 350F, line 2 cupcake pans with liners


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


In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer. Whisk in the cocoa powder until everything is smooth. Put it aside to cool slightly while you do the next step. 


In a mixer bowl, mix together the sour cream and two eggs until they're well combined. 


Add the chocolate/Guinness mixture (be careful as it'll still be pretty warm) and mix on medium until it's all mixed well. 


Add the flour mixture and mix just long enough to combined. Give it a few good stirs with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is even. 


Fill the cupcake liners (I use a 2.5 oz ice cream scoop and one scoop per cup worked out perfectly) and bake for 17ish minutes (see above yada about oven times) When the toothpick is clean, the cupcakes are ready! Cool on a rack to room temperature. 


Bailey's Irish (Butter)cream


1/2 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 cups of icing sugar
4 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream


In a mixer bowl, beat the butter until it's light and fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar and mix until it's thick and well combined (I used about 3 1/2 cups). Slowly drizzle in the Bailey's until everything is smooth. It'll smell awesome!!


BONUS: Whiskey Filling!


If you read the introduction, you'll notice I said that an authentic Irish Car Bomb is a mix of Guinness, Bailey's and Irish Whiskey. For the sake of being able to bring some of these to work with me on Monday, I omitted the whiskey part. But if you're brave and want to go for the authentic Irish goodness, here is a recipe for the filling. To fill the cupcakes, you can simply cut a small cone out of the middle of each unfrosted cupcake and use a piping bag or sandwich bag with a snipped corner to fill them. Then frost as usual over top! :) 


8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
2/3 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of room temperature, unsalted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons of Irish whiskey


Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until is begins to simmer then pour it over top of the chocolate. Let it sit for a few moments, then whisk until it's smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until smooth. 


(You can always omit the whiskey if you want the chocolate center without the extra punch!)