Irish Car Bomb Cupcake

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! If you've been around this blog for any amount of time, then you know that we love to celebrate just about anything. Saint Patrick's Day is no exception--after all, who couldn't use a little luck of the Irish every now and again? And there is a wee bit of Irish blood in running through our veins too...just enough to make it official. (And I've heard somewhere that my ginger-hued hair makes me related to the Leprechauns.)

And like those crafty little Leprechauns, I've been making a little mischief myself--in the kitchen. The plan is to have corned beef and cabbage for dinner, as always, but this year I've thrown in a side of colcannon made with both kale and cabbage, and for dessert...Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Have you ever had an Irish Car Bomb? I really have no idea where they originated, but they are probably a riff on the popular Sake Bomb. Basically you fill a pint glass 3/4 full with Guinness then sink a shot glass that's half Irish Whiskey and half Bailey's into the beer. Then the lucky imbiber must guzzle the entire thing, before the Bailey's curdles (which doesn't take any time at all). I've tried this once in my life--and once may be enough. The flavor is really surprisingly good, but drinking such a heavy beer so quickly is quite...the challenge.

An Irish Car Bomb tastes like dessert...almost like a Mudslide. It's thick and creamy and its flavors lend very, very well to these cupcakes. The cake batter is made with chocolate and Guinness, then after they are baked they're filled with some ganache spiked with whiskey. Finally they are topped with a butter cream frosting made with Bailey's. The resulting (adult-only) cupcake borders on being obscenely rich, but it is unbelievably delicious too. One of these Irish Car Bombs is most certainly not enough. Well, on second thought, if I want to fit into my jeans, one is most definitely enough.






Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Printable Recipe
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Oh my goodness. This cupcake is really the best cupcake I've ever made...and I've made a lot of cupcakes. It's so moist, in part due to the injection of whiskey-spiked ganache, and the Bailey's butter cream frosting is simply out of this world. Make these for Saint Patrick's Day--or for your birthday. Or both! The Guinness in the batter will bake off, but the alcohol is very much present in the other parts of the cupcake. If you are serving these to children you may want to omit the whiskey in the ganache and substitute regular cream for the Irish cream in the frosting. Or not.

Prep time: 1 hour
Total time: 2 hours
Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
1 cup butter
1 cup Guinness beer
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup sour cream
2 extra large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Ganache:
2/3 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon Irish whiskey

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tins with paper liners. You will need 20-24.

2. Make the cupcakes. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When butter is just melted, remove from heat and stir in the beer and cocoa powder. Cool to room temperature. Whisk in the sour cream and eggs until smooth.

3. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the chocolate/beer mixture until smooth, taking care not to over-beat the batter.

4. Fill paper muffin cups 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

5. Meanwhile make the ganache. Heat the cream to almost simmering a small pot. Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and pour the hot cream over them. Whisk until chips have melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the butter and whiskey. The ganache should be smooth and glossy. Carefully transfer the mixture to a piping bag, fitted with the long, narrow attachment.

6. Insert the piping tip into the center of each cupcake and fill slowly with ganache until you see the top of the cupcake begin to swell a bit.

7. Make the frosting. Beat the butter until smooth. Sift in 3 cups of the powdered sugar and add the Bailey's. Beat until frosting is smooth and a spreadable consistency. If necessary, add up to 1 cup more of powdered sugar.

8. Frost each cupcake sparingly, using a piping bag (or otherwise just small plops of frosting will do). These cupcakes are best eaten the same day...but will last up to one day more. Store in the refrigerator.

Salted Caramel Blisscake

Meet Salted Caramel Cupcake. She is my new best friend...my new lover...my new drug. Her soft white belly with perfectly moist crumb can just barely withstand the weight of the rich caramel frosting, but that doesn't matter to me at all. Because after my first bite, I'm pretty sure that I lost consciousness for awhile. When I came to, I devoured the rest of her greedily (well, okay, I shared one bite with my true love...).

She makes you lose your manners. I felt like I was a fox in dinner scene from Fantastic Mr. Fox. So civilized....and yet 100% animal, eating with two paws, crumbs flying, snarling lips. I'd think twice before serving these at a dinner party. It might get chaotic and unruly, especially if alcohol is involved. No, really you should save these for yourself....try them with tea, or coffee, or a glass of milk....or an after dinner drink. But be warned. One taste is never enough. She keeps you coming back for more....




Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Oh my goodness, these are good. Frost sparingly, and while the frosting is still hot, as it sets quickly and is quite heavy. Maldon salt is best for sprinkling over the tops. It can be found online or at many specialty grocers (like Whole Foods). If you don't have cake flour, all purpose flour can be substituted. After measuring, remove 4 tablespoons of flour and replace with 4 tablespoons of corn starch.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 1 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of buttermilk, well shaken

Frosting:

1 stick of butter
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup whole milk
5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted

Maldon salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners, or spray liberally with cooking spray.

2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

3. Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Add sugar and beat until mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined.

4. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula.

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Make frosting. In a large saucepan melt the stick of butter with the brown sugar over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Bring mixture to a boil (will take about 2 minutes), then add the milk. Remove from heat when it returns to a boil and whisk in vanilla and then the powdered sugar, cup by cup. Frosting will be quite thick.

7. If desired, spoon warm frosting into a piping bag (or ziplock bag with the corner snipped) and pipe frosting over cupcakes, sprinkling salt over each one immediately after it is frosted. Alternately, frosting can be spread on top of the cupcakes with a knife. Frosting will harden quickly, so you need to work fast. Cool and serve.