Irish Cupcake Bombs!
Okay, they could be more beautiful, but I have been under the weather and I was in a hurry. Pretty or not, they are delicious. So come along friends, let us celebrate St. Patrick's Day by getting drunk on cupcakes!
These are full of sugar and dairy products and more sugar. They are utterly devoid of health and nutritive value, they are messy, and they are expensive. But pay no mind...just give in to the power of the cupcake.
Okay, make these three things first, even a day or two ahead of time if you want:
Glaze
3 parts powdered sugar to 1 part Jameson Irish Whiskey...you don't need much, so instead of making a vat of it like I did, try 1/3 cup Jameson to 1 cup powdered sugar
Bailey's Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
6 caps full of Bailey's Irish Cream (the cap off the Bailey's bottle)
Cream the butter and sugar, add in the Bailey's, stir stir stir.
Bailey's Ganache Filling
2 cups Ghirardhelli dark chocolate chips (60% cacao)
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 cup plus one splash heavy cream
Melt together in a double boiler, or in a medium pot balanced on top of a smaller pot of almost-boiling water. Pour into a storage container and allow to cool. Less liquid will yield a more solid final product, more liquid means a more pudding-like consistency.
Now the best part--the cupcake. I honestly do not recall where this recipe came from, and how much if any I have altered it. I just know that it is alarmingly decadent and way super delicious.
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
2 cups Guinness
2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
4 cups flour (use unbleached--there is no reason flour has to be snow white)
4 cups sugar (spring for the organic kind--these are already costing a fortune anyway)
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs (brown, of course--they are prettier and tastier; cage free is less mean, too)
1 1/3 cups sour cream
I failed to specify mixing instructions to myself in my recipe book, so just smash it all together in whatever way pleases you most. Pour into cupcake thingies and bake at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit, duh) until they reach the springy/clean toothpick stage.
Assembly!
While the cupcakes are still hot, pour 1/2 Tablespoon of glaze over each one. This will create a sticky mess when it dribbles onto the paper cupcake liners/everything else. If this vexes you, devise a solution. Me, I have an eleven month old, I am really not phased by a little stickiness.
With a sharp knife held at an inward angle, cut a little cone out of the top of each cupcake. Eat the Jameson-infused cones as a reward (that is why the glazing comes before the cutting).
Let the cupcakes cool. Or don't, Captain Impatience, but the ganache will get all melty if the cake is too warm for the next step. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of ganache into each cupcake hole. Oodle your finger around to make more room if you need it; you washed your hands, it's all good.
Finally, with the cupcakes cooled and the frosting at room temperature, put the frosting into a pastry bag with a medium-sized tip (or baggie with the corner cut off; I used a disposable plastic pastry bag that I sealed closed with yellow electrical tape; I keep a classy kitchen), and start decorating! If your ganache is mooshy, decorate around it instead of trying to frost on top of it. Then, CONSUME!!!*
*diabetics beware
These are full of sugar and dairy products and more sugar. They are utterly devoid of health and nutritive value, they are messy, and they are expensive. But pay no mind...just give in to the power of the cupcake.
Okay, make these three things first, even a day or two ahead of time if you want:
Glaze
3 parts powdered sugar to 1 part Jameson Irish Whiskey...you don't need much, so instead of making a vat of it like I did, try 1/3 cup Jameson to 1 cup powdered sugar
Bailey's Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
6 caps full of Bailey's Irish Cream (the cap off the Bailey's bottle)
Cream the butter and sugar, add in the Bailey's, stir stir stir.
Bailey's Ganache Filling
2 cups Ghirardhelli dark chocolate chips (60% cacao)
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 cup plus one splash heavy cream
Melt together in a double boiler, or in a medium pot balanced on top of a smaller pot of almost-boiling water. Pour into a storage container and allow to cool. Less liquid will yield a more solid final product, more liquid means a more pudding-like consistency.
Now the best part--the cupcake. I honestly do not recall where this recipe came from, and how much if any I have altered it. I just know that it is alarmingly decadent and way super delicious.
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
2 cups Guinness
2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks), room temperature
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
4 cups flour (use unbleached--there is no reason flour has to be snow white)
4 cups sugar (spring for the organic kind--these are already costing a fortune anyway)
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs (brown, of course--they are prettier and tastier; cage free is less mean, too)
1 1/3 cups sour cream
I failed to specify mixing instructions to myself in my recipe book, so just smash it all together in whatever way pleases you most. Pour into cupcake thingies and bake at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit, duh) until they reach the springy/clean toothpick stage.
Assembly!
While the cupcakes are still hot, pour 1/2 Tablespoon of glaze over each one. This will create a sticky mess when it dribbles onto the paper cupcake liners/everything else. If this vexes you, devise a solution. Me, I have an eleven month old, I am really not phased by a little stickiness.
With a sharp knife held at an inward angle, cut a little cone out of the top of each cupcake. Eat the Jameson-infused cones as a reward (that is why the glazing comes before the cutting).
Let the cupcakes cool. Or don't, Captain Impatience, but the ganache will get all melty if the cake is too warm for the next step. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of ganache into each cupcake hole. Oodle your finger around to make more room if you need it; you washed your hands, it's all good.
Finally, with the cupcakes cooled and the frosting at room temperature, put the frosting into a pastry bag with a medium-sized tip (or baggie with the corner cut off; I used a disposable plastic pastry bag that I sealed closed with yellow electrical tape; I keep a classy kitchen), and start decorating! If your ganache is mooshy, decorate around it instead of trying to frost on top of it. Then, CONSUME!!!*
*diabetics beware
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