Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

In honor of one of the greatest days of the year, St. Patrick's Day, I decided to attempt a recipe that a former Knottie friend of mine gave me.  I have also seen it pop up on a few other food blogs lately, so they must be popular this time of year!

I was also excited to use my new camera as an early birthday gift from Steve to take these pictures!  I was really excited to see it had a "gourmet food" setting. :)

These were fairly time consuming, but not overly complicated.  I made 19 cupcakes out of this recipe.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness beer
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1-2 tsp. Irish whiskey (optional, I used a smidge less than 1 tsp. of Jameson per Steve's insistence)

Baileys Frosting
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar (I used about 3 1/2)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 - 4 Tbsp Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream or a combination thereof...I used a small airplane bottle size of Baileys~apx. 4 tsp. and a splash of heavy cream)

Make the cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cupcake cups with liners
3. Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer over medium heat
4. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth, Cool slightly
5. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into a large bowl to blend
6. Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend
7. Add Guinness/cocoa mixture to egg mixture and beat to just combine
8. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed
9. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
10. Divide batter among lined cupcake pan, filling them apx. 2/3-3/4 of the way.
11. Bake in preheated oven until tester comes out clean (recipe said 17 minutes, ours took apx. 22)
12. Cool cupcakes on rack completely.

Make the filling

1. Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heat proof bowl.  
2. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate, let sit for 1 minute over the chocolate
3. Stir until smooth
4. Add the butter and whiskey (if you choose) and stir until combine
5. Let ganache until cool until thick, but still soft enough to pipe into cupcakes

Fill the cupcakes

Using a 1" cookie cutter or a corer (I used a corer, it worked like a charm), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.  You want to go most of the way down, but not all the way.  Aim for around 2/3.

Put the cooled ganache into a piping bag and fill the holes on each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting

1. Whip the butter in the bowl for several minutes, you want it very light and fluffy
2. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, a few tablespoons at a time
3. When the frosting looks thick, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk or cream) and whip it until it is combined.
4. If the frosting got too thin (it shouldn't, but just in case), you can add a few more spoonfuls of confectioners sugar.

Decorate and enjoy!