Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

 Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes!

Hello All! Today is my very 1st post on Sugar bakes! I am excited to tell you that I made Irish Car Bomb cupcakes in honor of one of my most favorite holidays,St. Patrick's Day. Man am I excited! I not only love St. Patty's day ,but now I am going to get to go to Ireland next week. Yes, finally we are all going! Now that we are stationed in Germany and it's a 2 hr plane ride away,we can actually do this. My twin Sister will be meeting us there and I know we are going to have the time of our lives!
    So, onto these cupcakes,I have been researching everything I want to do in Ireland,i.e.-Food markets and sightseeing. Well, I of course have to make sure my husband is entertained as well.So, I looked up Irish alcohol. I found out that in Dublin they have a Guinness beer factory,and are the makers of this fine drink!-We will be going:) I then found out that an Irish car bomb is a shot and beer type of thing that you do in the bars there. So why not make a cupcake out of it?! Genius!? I'd think so!
  This cupcake is a rich Guinness infused cupcake with a chocolate Jameson ganache and a Bailey's Irish cream frosting! AMAZING!! Really,the Guinness is cooked out in the baking and leaves you with an incredibly moist chocolate cupcake. The Jameson ganache is just what this cupcake needs to add that extra chocolaty bite. Oh, this frosting-Let me tell you about this pure deliciousness. It is a buttery velvet buttercream frosting with a touch of Bailey's Irish cream. YUM!! It's my favorite part.
   On to the labor/assembly. This was a 3 step cupcake. Bake the cupcakes,make the ganache and then the frosting. It did not take too long though. All simple steps and nothing you can't do. I  hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Irish Car Bomb Cupcake:

For the Cupcakes:

1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Ganache:

 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Frosting:

 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

1st-Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.Bring the Guinness and the butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Then,cool slightly.

2nd-Whisk the flour,sugar,baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine.Beat the eggs and sour cream to blend, in an electric mixer.Add Guinness chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just combined.Add the flour mixture and briefly beat on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among  cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

3rd-Make the Ganache: Put chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Set aside. Then heat cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it set for 1 minute,then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.Let the ganache cool until thickened,but still soft enough to pipe.

4th-To fill the Cupcakes: Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter or the bottom of a large decorating tip,cut hte centers out of the cooled cupcakes. Going about 2/3 of the way down.Put the ganache in a piping bag with a wide tip and fill cupcakes just to the top.

5th-Make the Baileys Frosting: Whip the softened butter for about 5 minutes on medium high speed in your electric mixer,until fluffy. Reduce speed to medium low and add the powdered sugar until all in combined. Then,add the Bailey's and whip until combined.

6th-Frosting the cupcakes:Use your favorite decorating tip, or an offset spatula to frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

  Enjoy and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Sweet Day, Amanda