Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I made some delicious cupcakes for St. Patty’s Day and have been meaning to put the recipe up but I keep forgetting. I know it’s been well over a month since St. Patty’s Day, but who’s keeping track…right?

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The cupcake recipe came from the well known Irish Car Bomb beer cocktail. The beer cocktail has three Irish ingredients—Guiness stout, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Jameson Irish Whiskey. You pour the Bailey’s in a shot glass, give it a float of  Jameson and  drop the entire thing into a half full pint of Guiness. And then you chug—because if you don’t it will curdle [gross.] I’m not much for Guiness, but I won’t turn down one of these drinks.

As for the cupcakes…they are a labor of love [just like the cheesecake truffles I made.] No other way to describe it. The entire process can take 3 to 4 hours [whoa.] I made the cupcakes one night and then made the filling and frosting the next night. It was so much easier that way. I didn’t take step by step pictures of the process, but I did take a couple to help with explaining. I adapted the recipe from the fine people over at Smitten Kitchen—the link has more photos to help explain some of the process. Also, don’t be afraid to pour a little bit more alcohol in each step than what’s just listed. I probably came close to doubling the amount of Baileys and Jameson to add extra flavor. Enjoy!

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Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Makes two dozen cupcakes

Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup stout beer (I used Guinness)
1 cup [2 sticks] unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with liners
2. Bring beer and butter to simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly.
3. Whisky flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Using an electric mixer beat in eggs and sour cream. Add beer mix to egg mix and beat to combine.
4. Add flour mix and and beat briefly on slow speed.
5. Using a spatula, finish folding the mix until combined and pour into lined cupcake tins to about 2/3 of the way full.
6. Bake about 17 minutes, rotating pan once. Let cool completely.

Ganache Filling
Ingredients
8 oz of bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cups heavy cream
2 TBSP butter, room temp
2 tsp Irish whiskey (I always put more in than stated. I think I ended up with at least 4 TBSP of whiskey)

Directions
1. Chop up the chocolate [if in a large piece] and put into a medium sized bowl.
2. Heat cream until simmering and pour over chocolate. Let sit one minute and stir until smooth. Heat up in the microwave if the chocolate isn’t completely melted.
3. Add butter and whiskey and stir until combined.
4. Let the ganache cool enough until thick, but soft enough to pipe through a hole when filling the cupcakes. If you put it in the fridge to help speed up the process, it must be stirred about every 10 minutes.

Frosting
Ingredients
3-4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup [1 stick] butter, room temp
4 TBSP Baileys (I put more than stated here too. I added more until I was satisfied with the flavor)
2 to 4 TBSP milk or heavy cream

Directions
1. Whip butter in a bowl with an electric mixer for several minutes. You want the butter to become light and fluffy.
2. Add powder sugar about half of a cup at a time. This helps it mix better and and have a less gritty taste/texture like some homemade frostings can have.
3. When frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip until combined.
4. Add 2 TBSP of milk or heavy cream to help thin out frosting. If still too thick, add more milk or cream, one TBSP at a time.
Note: If the frosting has become too thin, add another spoonful or two of powder sugar.

Putting it all together!
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1. Once your cupcakes have completely cooled, you can start removing the centers. Since I mad my cupcakes the night before, I removed the centers while the ganache was cooling. You can either use an apple corer, or a paring knife [which is what I used]. Make the hole about 1 inch across and about 2/3 of the way down the cupcake.
2. Put the cooled ganache  into a piping bag and fill the holes  you just cut out. If you’re like me and you don’t have a piping bag, you can put the ganache into a ziplock bag and cut off the tip of one of the bottom corners. Works just as well as a piping bag.
3. Spread the frosting over the top of the cupcakes, and enjoy!

—m.

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