I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a few months now and was so excited about St. Patrick’s Day just to try it out.  Plus, I just got purchased The Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit from Bake it Pretty and couldn’t wait to use it.

See! Isn’t it cute? It was so easy decorating the cupcakes with the jumbo tips.

These cupcakes have have a chocolate-y, slightly Guiness-y  taste to them.  The recipe called for Dutch-processed cocoa powder but I didn’t have any, so I substituted that for unsweetened cocoa powder.  I was a little worried that the cupcakes would be ruined because unsweetened cocoa powder has a strong chocolate taste and is acidic , which could have had a really bad chemical reaction with the baking soda. Not bad as in exploding cupcakes bad, but bad as in yucky-tasting cupcake bad.

Luckily, the cupcakes came out great. They were really moist and fluffy and the  Guinness taste wasn’t strong at all.  My favorite part was the Bailey’s infused frosting.  I’ve always loved Bailey’s Irish Cream and this frosting did not disappoint at all.

Don’t wait until St. Patrick’s Day rolls around next year, try these ASAP.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 24 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 cup Guinness

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

2. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.

3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined.

5. Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat.

6. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture and beat.  using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

7. Divide batter into the cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

For the frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

1. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whisk butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

2. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add powdered sugar until all of its incorporated.  Add Bailey’s and increase the speed to medium-high and whip for a couple of minutes, until its fluffy.