Chocolate Guinness and Irish Cream Cupcakes
Makes about 20-24
1 cup Guinness, foam removed
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream (not low fat)
For the ganache filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced
2 teaspoons Bailey's Irish cream
For the Bailey's buttercream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar(sifted)
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish cream
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and
salt. Set aside.
In a large, separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar
with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs in
one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. Mix in the vanilla
extract.
With your mixer on low, slowly add in the Guinness. It will curdle, but will all come together when you add in the
flour and sour cream.
Slowly add in a third of the dry ingredients and mix
until just incorporated. Mix in half of the sour cream. Repeat again by
alternating between the dry ingredients and the sour cream, finishing with the
dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. DO NOT over mix.
Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake tins, about 2/3 to
3/4 full. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or when a toothpick inserted into
the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Remove the cupcakes and allow to cool in their tins on a
cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from their tins and cool
completely on the racks.
To the make the ganache filling: Finely chop the chocolate
and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream on medium-low until
simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then
stir until smooth. If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can microwave for 20 seconds, stir, and check. You can continue this for 10 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the butter and
Irish cream and stir until combined.
Let the ganache cool until thick, but still soft enough to
spoon into the cupcakes, about the consistency of pudding. Meanwhile, use a
small teaspoon to scoop out the centers of the cooled cupcakes to about 2/3 of the way in depth. Spoon the ganache into
each cupcake and set aside until ready to frost.
To make the buttercream: Whip the butter in the bowl of an
electric mixer or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, for about 5
minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Slowly
drizzle in the Irish cream and mix until the buttercream starts to come
together and look thick. If it looks too thick, add a bit of milk or cream.
