Irish Slammer Cupcakes
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 cup Guinness
- 16 tbsp. unsalted butter
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1½ tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- or substitute 1 box devil's food cake mix
- For the ganache:
- 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp. Jameson whiskey (you could also substitute Baileys)
- For the Baileys buttercream frosting:
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3-4 cups confectioner’ sugar, sifted
- 4-8 tbsp. Baileys Irish cream or more to taste
Directions
For the cake:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 °F and line your cupcake pans.
Cut the butter into roughly 1 tbl size pieces and dump into a medium saucepan. Add the Guinness and turn the heat on to medium. Stir occasionally until the butter is completely melted, then add the cocoa powder and whisk briskly until smooth. If the mixture separates a little, it’s ok. Turn off the heat and allow to cool while assembling the rest of the cake ingredients.
Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Beat the eggs and sour cream with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer until blended. Whisk the beer/butter/cocoa mix one last time and add to the mixing bowl. Note: if you’ve been super quick with the previous steps and the liquid mixture is still steaming, allow it to cool off for another 5-10 minutes. You don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs in your cupcake batter. Once you’ve added the wet ingredients, turn the mixer on low, and add the dry ingredients in three installments, waiting for each dose to be almost fully incorporated before adding the next. Do not overmix.
Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ to ¾ full and bake until a toothpick stabbed into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean, 15-17 minutes. Remove and let sit in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the ganache:
To make the ganache, finely chop the chocolate in a food processor or with some good ol’ fashioned knife work and deposit in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan or (sacrilege!) the microwave until simmering. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 60 seconds. Use a spatula to whip smooth, making sure to clean the sides of the bowl. Add the whiskey and butter, and stir until uniformly smooth and delicious. Set aside to cool and thicken somewhat. You’re looking for a consistency that’s a little more liquid than peanut butter, but definitely not runny. Don’t let it cool too much or it will start to stiffen up.
While the ganache cools, use a small knife to cut cones out of the cupcakes. Resist the urge to eat all of the little cones. Or don’t, I’m not your mother. Use a small spatula and/or spoon to fill the cones with the ganache.
For the frosting:
To make the frosting, beat the butter in your mixer using the paddle attachment until it is light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar (frosting will look very dry). Once all the sugar is incorporated, add the Baileys, and beat until smooth. You may have to add more Baileys or powdered sugar depending on your conditions, but you want something that will easily spread/pipe, but that can also stand up on its own.
Load up your piping bag and frost the cupcakes. I’d recommend doing a single layer of frosting to start so you don’t end up with naked cupcakes at the end. If you have more frosting, go back for a second pass.
*Notes
These freeze well un-frosted. Keep them in an airtight container for up to a couple months.
