Guinness Car Bomb Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hope everyone is getting their green on today!

While my days of cheap green beer are far behind me, I definitely still enjoy a pint of Guinness now and then. That includes the occasional Car Bomb, which is, for those who don’t know, a complicated type of shot where you drop a shot glass full of Bailey’s and Jameson into a half pint of Guinness and chug it before it curdles. It sound disgusting, but it’s actually completely delicious. Taking those elements and baking them into this cupcake is nothing short of pure genius. I’d love to shake the hand of the baker who decided to use stout and chocolate together in a cake recipe. That person is my hero.

This post is also a bit of a break from the original concept of the blog, because I actually have made these before on several occasions. I’m allowing myself to let it count towards the Baking 101 challenge because I’ve fallen a little behind for the month. Also, I make the rules, so back off! 😆Just kidding! I’m making the exception because this is THE recipe that I tried and thought how much I’d like to do a baking blog someday. It took me a couple of years to get the momentum, but this recipe was the inspiration. It was also one of my very first pins on Pinterest. So thanks, Brown Eyed Baker! Your recipe is the bomb. The Car Bomb. (See what I did there?)

I will emphasize that this recipe is not hard, but there are a lot of steps. They are oh-so-worth it. This is seriously my favorite cupcake ever. In addition to the richness and complexity the stout adds to the chocolate cake, this recipe uses sour cream, which I’ve always loved in chocolate cake! It gives it a great texture. I promise, you’re going to love it!

I was also totally stoked to use my King Arthur triple cocoa blend in this recipe which combines both Dutch-process and regular cocoa. The original recipe specifically calls for Dutch-process. Every other time (before I understood the difference), I made this with regular ol’ Hershey’s cocoa, and that worked just fine. You can get away with whatever you’ve got on hand.

Because there are other steps I’d rather spend time talking about, I’m not going to focus much on the actual cake. It’s not overly fussy. I do want to tell one cautionary tale, though. When bringing the Guinness and butter to a simmer before adding the cocoa, stir it around once in a while. I wasn’t paying close attention, and it went from zero activity to almost bubbling over really quickly, as if it was having some crazy surface tension struggle. Luckily, I’d just walked over and had my hand on the handle of the pot, so I avoided the gigantic mess it could have made.

Another cautionary tale: this butter/beer/cocoa concoction may look delicious, but it’s bitter and gross by itself!

So, you’ve followed the instructions on the recipe below to this point and you’ve got cooling cupcakes. Here’s where the real fun begins! The Irish Whiskey Ganache:

I find this to be the hardest part of the cupcake. In my years of making these, this has always been my weak point. In theory, it’s pretty easy. In practice, I think I need to practice. My ganache game is a little weak. Where I think I went wrong was either not heating the cream enough or not letting the hot cream sit with the chocolate for long enough. I have no patience.

Ideally, you should have the hot cream covering all the chopped chocolate. (I did that right after I got the picture!) Once I let the cream and chocolate sit together for two minutes, I stirred and still had lumps. That’s why I think it was the temperature of the cream. It could also have been that I didn’t chop the chocolate into small enough shards.

It’s not the end of the world. I popped it in the microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until it was smooth. Then I added the butter (sigh. I had to microwave again for it to melt) and then the whiskey at the end. Then, you let it sit for a while to firm up.

Again, I chide myself for my lack of patience. I tried to let it naturally thicken, but it was past midnight at this point, and I worked in the morning. I pulled out my hand mixer with a whisk attachment and I whipped that ganache. I whipped it good. The end result was not what I had hoped. It was more like a truffle consistency. Not bad, by any means, but not the nice soft filling I envision. In my memory, this filling has always cooled to a harder texture, so the recipe may just need to be tweaked when I’ve got time to experiment.

At any rate, you’re looking for it to cool to a point where when you scoop up a bit and drizzle it back on itself, it holds its form for a good 10 seconds. Any runnier than that, it will just soak into the cake, leaving you with a soggy cupcake with an empty hole in the middle.

After my shame and lack of proficiency guiding you in all things ganache, I’m happy to share with you some tips for filling cupcakes! Most recipes will tell you to take a paring knife to carve out a hole for your fillings. I don’t do that. I use a three-step, three-tool process, and I can hollow out two dozen cupcakes at a leisurely pace in less than 8 minutes. (Yes, I timed myself!) First, I use the bottom of a piping tip to make a perfect hole. The tip you see in the photo is a Wilton 1A. Any of the larger tips are a perfect size guide for standard size cupcakes. Twist the back of the tip about a half-inch down into the top of the cupcake. Then take the paring knife and pop out the little circle of cake you’ve made. Now, using the paring knife and the circle as a guide, cut around the circle to the desired depth. You don’t want to cut all the way through, obviously, so aim for about 2/3 of the way through. Next, take the spoon and scoop out the loose cake. I actually have a grapefruit spoon I use for this. It has a few jagged teeth on the edge that makes it the perfect tool for digging out cake, but any spoon will do. Of course, you could use the paring knife for this, too, but the spoon is quicker and makes less loose crumbs. Also, the paring knife alone will usually make more of a funnel-shaped cavity, and the spoon gives you a more even width all the way down into the cupcake.

Once the ganache is ready, spoon or pipe into the prepared cupcakes!

I like to overfill these a little, because that whiskey chocolate flavor is amazing! I can also get a bit more height on my buttercream frosting without throwing off the flavor balance.

The Irish Cream Buttercream only uses 6 Tbsp of liqueur, but it’s a very present flavor!! It doesn’t taste boozy, but the flavor is absolutely unmistakable. It is SOOOOOO good!

That’s what 5 cups of powdered sugar looks like before you start!!

To make this buttercream, you need to whip your room temperature butter until it is light and creamy. That takes about 5-6 minutes, and you should scrape down the sides a time or two. Working with powdered sugar can be messy. My stand mixer came with a plastic shield that helps keep the powder inside while you mix.

Even then, I use a towel to try to mitigate the explosion.

I think powdered sugar everywhere is just a part of making buttercream. You just don’t get that luscious, delightful texture without some kind of trade-off!

I am not yet at a point where I can guide you on frosting techniques, but to achieve the look I did, I used a Wilton 1M tip to give some ruffles to hold my lovely shamrock and gold coin shaped sprinkles. Nothing too fancy! These cupcakes don’t need it. The flavors speak for themselves!

Whether you’re making these for St. Patrick’s day or just because this is one awesome cupcake, I hope you enjoyed reading how I did it and feel like a filled cupcake is an attainable goal. One of my favorite quotes of the day from my co-workers/taste-testers was, “I didn’t even know about the hidden surprise inside!” A cupcake filling is an extra step, but no matter what flavor of cake you’ve got, adding a filling takes your cupcakes to another level, and opens up a whole world of flavor combination possibilities!

So May the Road Rise Up to Meet You, and have a happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day!

Guinness Car Bomb Cupcakes

March 17, 2019

Servings: 24

Prep: 40 min

Cook: 17 min

Total: 2 hr

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An awesome booze-infused cupcake that combines the flavors of an Irish Car Bomb shot into dessert form!

By: Nina

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
2/3 cup Sour Cream
For the Filling:
8 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
2/3 cup Heavy Cream
2 Tbsp Butter, room temperature
2 tsp Irish Whiskey
For the Frosting:
2 cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
5 cups Powdered Sugar
6 Tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

Directions

Step 1 Preheat oven to 350℉. Line two standard muffin tins with cupcake liners
Step 2 Add butter and Guinness in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
Step 3 In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
Step 4 With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream together. Add the chocolate mixture. On the slowest speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined
Step 5 Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Step 6 Cool completely on a wire rack
Step 7 While cupcakes bake, make the ganache filling by placing chopped chocolate in a glass or heatproof bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and let it sit for two minutes
Step 8 Using a rubber spatula, slowly work from the center of the chocolate outward until chocolate is fully melted and smooth. If you still have lumps, heat in microwave for 10 seconds at a time, stirring well in between until chocolate melts completely
Step 9 Add the butter and whiskey and stir until butter is melted and mixture is fully combined, using the microwave in 10 second increments if need be. Be extremely careful not to overheat chocolate at this point, or it will seize
Step 10 Let ganache cool until it thickens, but is soft enough to pipe, about 30 minutes
Step 11 Once cupcakes are cool, cut out the centers of the cupcakes, going about 2/3 of the way down. (See above blog for tools and tips to make this quick and easy!) Spoon or pipe thickened ganache into the center of the cupcakes
Step 12 To make the frosting, whip butter with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides once or twice. Reduce the speed to medium low, and slowly add the powdered sugar until all of it is fully incorporated. Add the Bailey’s, increase the speed back to medium-high, and whip until light and fluffy (2-3 min)
Step 13 Frost cupcakes however you desire! (For the look in the photo, I used a Wilton 1M tip) Cupcakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days