The Perfect St. Patrick's Day Dessert: Irish Cupcakes

By Nora    

Yes, I know St. Patrick's Day is almost a month away, and I know everyone probably still has Mardi Gras on the brain, but ever since I married into an Irish family I get excited about St. Patrick's Day and all the revelry associated with it. The caveat here is that the traditional food of St. Patrick's Day doesn't really excite me. Besides the soda bread, of which I could eat an entire loaf, I could care less about corned beef and cabbage. I'm sure there are other good recipes I could try (IF YOU KNOW ANY PLEASE SHARE), but this year I decided to focus more on the dessert portion of the meal. I did a dry run on these cupcakes last weekend when I had some friends over for dinner, and they did not disappoint. In fact, they pretty much ruled the evening. They're not even that hard to make! Maybe a little more labor intensive than most cupcakes, but well worth it. And look how pretty they turned out:

The original recipe for these cupcakes came from Smitten Kitchen, but I altered the actual cake part of the recipe a bit to suit my desires (read: make it easier). The point of these cupcakes is to mimic a popular Irish drink, where you fill a shot glass with half Bailey's and half whiskey (AHEM, JAMESON PREFERRED), drop it in a pint of Guinness, and chug-a-lug. While this is fun and gets you halfway to plastered pretty quick, I'll take the sweeter route, thank you very much. 

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes (my updated version)

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup Guinness Stout (room temp)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, Guinness, sour cream, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. 
2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Whiskey Ganache Filling

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons Irish whiskey

Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Cool until thickened, but soft enough to pipe.

To fill the cupcakes:

Using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Baileys Frosting

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperatue

4 - 6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

pinch of salt

Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. Add salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar beating until combined. Slowly add the Bailey's until you reach your desired consistency. Decorate as desired. 

Comments

[Mrs G]

I'm curious where the author is from. Corned beef and cabbage is not popular or traditional food in Ireland. It is only an Irish American thing.

[Marie P]

Using "Irish Car Bomb" to celebrate an Irish holiday - literally, a holy day - is akin to creating a drink called the "falling twin towers" and promoting it on Sept 11.

Seriously, can we have a little more sensitivity? The Irish "Troubles" isn't a subject that should be made light of in such a way.

[Jennie]

Marie P, neither Nora or myself (the site owner and editor) meant any disrespect. We simply didn't know there would be offense taken as we thought it was a commonly used term for the type of drink referenced. We've edited the title and post content and offer our sincere apologies!

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