Tuesday 27 March 2012

American Suburbanite Bakes: Irish Car-bomb Cupcakes

Before going to Cheltenham and St. Patrick's Day, inspired by all things Irish, I made Irish Car-Bomb Cupcakes. I had seen them posted on Pinterest (over and over again). When I couldn't resist the temptation any longer, my husband welcomed the request to buy some Guinness! From opening the can to baking and eating, my husband helped me make the cupcakes. He took charge of the whiskey ganache and was chief taste tester as we went along.

The recipe is based on the Brown Eyed Bakers blog.

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/14/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/

It was worth following her recipe, but I did tweak a few things as I went along. First, I cut the recipe in half because my husband and I could easily eat all 24 cupcakes if I made them. Not exactly the way to keep our healthy living/weight loss plans for the year! I have to say, the frosting was some of the best I have ever made and has created a bit of a Baileys habit. Glad I only made half the recipe or I would be eating it on everything!



Recipe for 12 cupcakes:

Cupcakes-
1/2 cup Guinness
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 + 1/8 cup cocoa powder (I used Bourneville)
1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup sour cream

For the whiskey ganache-
4 oz dark/ bittersweet chocolate **
1/3 cup heavy (double) cream
1 TBS butter (at room temperature)
1 tsp Irish Whiskey

For the Baileys Buttercream Frosting-
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup powdered (icing) sugar
3 TBS Baileys Irish Cream

** We used an 80% cocoa chocolate bar. We found it was too much cocoa to combine and had to add powdered sugar until it came together.

CUPCAKES

-Preheat oven to 350 F
-Place cupcake liners in cupcake tin
-In saucepan, bring Guinness and butter to a simmer
-Remove mixture from heat and add cocoa powder, whisking until smooth
-Cool slightly

-In a large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined
-Add the cooled Guinness and chocolate mixture and beat until combined

-In another bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt
-Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients
-Beat briefly on low speed
-Combine completely with a rubber spatula
-Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full

Bake about 16 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

WHISKEY GANACHE

-Break up chocolate into small pieces and place in heatproof bowel
-In small pan, bring cream to a simmer
-Pour hot cream over chocolate
-Let sit for 1 minute
-With a rubber spatula, fold chocolate into cream until smooth
-Let cool, it should be the consistency of toothpaste, thick but still able to be piped

(after 20 minutes or so, this is where I added some powdered sugar as the 80% cocoa bar was too chocolatey to combine!)

FILL THE CUPCAKES

-Using your tool of choice, cut out a pocket in the centers of the cupcakes going about 2/3 down. (I used a small melon baller, the other recipes use a cookie cutter or the bottom of a large piping tip)
-Fill the wholes in the cupcakes with the ganache. I used a small spoon. You can pipe it in. If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a ziplock bag and snip off the corner.

BALEYS BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

-Mix the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides occasionally
-Reduce mixer speed to medium-low/low and gradually add icing sugar until it is combined thoroughly
-Add the Baileys and mix again on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy

FROST THE CUPCAKES

-Using you favorite technique frost the cupcakes and enjoy!





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