Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Hey y'all!

It's Friday! Ya know what that means? St. Patrick's Day is quickly approaching, along with various Irish festivals and events!

I know I just gave you an awesome recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage with Horseradish, but you should just go ahead and plan to make these bad boys too -- Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Ever had an Irish Car Bomb? I have -- I've had some good experiences and some not-so-good experiences with them. That's just the way the cookie cupcake crumbles sometimes haha. For those that don't know what an Irish Car Bomb is, it's essentially a half pint of Guinness with a shot of equal parts of Jameson Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream dropped down into the Guinness. Doesn't sound too intimidating? Well try this on for size -- as soon as you drop the shot into the Guinness, you gotta have your chugging pants on or else it will curdle due to a reaction between the Guinness and the Bailey's . . . then it's not going to go down as easily as it would have. If you want a little more information about Irish Car Bombs, check here, here, and here.

Now that you know what an Irish Car Bomb is, let's make them into cupcakes! I've definitely noticed a shift in cooking patterns lately, and it involves incorporating beers and liquors into cooking -- whether it be baking with liquors, marinating and braising with craft beers, or grilling with booze-infused sauces.

Guess what? I dig it. A lot.

The best part about these cupcakes? You don't have to worry about curdling or chugging. Win, win I'd say.

There are a few couple million pins on Pinterest for Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes but mine are different than most. Almost every variation I've seen uses Bailey's in the buttercream icing and Jameson in the inner ganache. How come? I guess it was a trickle down effect used by everyone that recreated these.

So what do I do that's different? The opposite. To me, the Bailey's just goes phenomenally with the ganache and the Jameson with the buttercream. That's how I've always made 'em. They're the bomb dot com and people will act like it's the best thing they've ever eaten. Seriously. Maybe we should form a support group . . . BCA -- Boozy Cupcakers Anonymous. Yes - cupcakers is now a word.

Either way, make these gems and take 'em to your St. Patty's Day festivities. They will certainly be a hit, especially amongst the DDs. Bee tee dubs (btw) -- this recipe makes 24 treats and they pair realllllly well with your morning coffee. Too well in fact. They're pretty alright with a glass of milk too :)

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Cupcakes 

What You'll Need

• 1 C Guinness - some stores carry single pints for purchase, but what's the fun in that?
• 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 C unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 C sugar
• 2/3 C sour cream
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 C all-purpose flour

How To Make Them

• Add Guinness and butter to a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. I make sure my butter is at room temperature before adding it to the Guinness because I don't want too much of the Stout to burn off -- I don't know about y'all, but I like the flavor. 
• Once the mixture has melted, remove from heat and add the cocoa powder to the mixture and whisk together to incorporate. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer, add your eggs, sugar, and sour cream and blend until incorporated. 
• Next, add the baking soda and salt and mix until incorporated.
• Now you may add the chocolate/beer mixture to the stand mixer -- blend until combined. 
• Lastly, slowly add the flour to the mixture until incorporated and then mix for an additional minute or two.
• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Pour your batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 full -- place in oven and allow to bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick/knife comes out clean.
• Remove cupcakes from oven and allow them cool on a cooling rack.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled, you will need to make a hole in the center of each cupcake. You can choose to remove the entire center or remove about mid-way down into the cupcake. This can be achieved with a sharp knife, or with the ease of a tool such as this or one like mine (corers come in various shapes and sizes).

Ganache


What You'll Need

• 8 to 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I buy the semi-sweet baking squares)
• 2 tbsp butter at room temperature
• 2/3 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tsp Bailey's Irish Cream (I'm heavy handed so I add to taste, which is usually always more than this)

How To Make It

• Break apart your baking squares/chocolate in a medium-sized glass bowl. 
• Add your heavy whipping cream to a small sauce pan over medium heat -- heat until bubbling. 
• Remove from heat and add the vanilla and Bailey's to the hot whipping cream.
• Pour this hot mixture over the chocolate and allow to sit for about 30 seconds. 
• Begin to incorporate the two with a whisk. Initially it may look very "runny"-- just continue to stir/beat with whisk until it begins to incorporate and thicken.
• Add butter and incorporate.
• Taste and see if it needs more Bailey's :) If so, add while the mixture is still warm and somewhat "thin."
• Fill each empty cupcake hole with the ganache.

Buttercream Frosting


What You'll Need

• 1/2 stick salted butter at room temperature
• 1 block of cream cheese (best if it's at room temperature too)
• 6 C powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 tsp Jameson Whiskey (Again, I'm heavy handed so I add to taste, which is usually always more than this)

How To Make It

• Using a bowl and hand mixer, add your butter and cream cheese to the bowl and incorporate with mixer until the two are fluffy.
• Add the vanilla and Jameson Whiskey and combine. 
• Now begins the tedious process. Add your powdered sugar to the creamy mixture one cup at a time making sure each cup is incorporated before adding the next. 
• Do this until all the powdered sugar is incorporated.
• I find that frostings like this one can sometimes be too sweet, so sometimes I add a little bit more butter or cream cheese to offset the sweetness if I find that I have made it too sweet. Adding more Jameson is another option too :)
• Once the ganache has been added to each cupcake, add your frosting to a piping bag and decorate!
• I chose to add a few green sprinkles and gold coins for a little added St. Patty's Day effect (I found my gold liners and coins at Michaels). 

Go crazy with decorating! These really can be quite fun! O and have a pint for me will ya' -- St. Patty's Day is a blast!

-Sue