Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes/ Beery Cupcake and Boozy Frosting –

Here’s my St.Patty’s Day dessert – Guinness dark chocolate cupcakes with sweet boozy buttercream frosting. Let the luck of the Irish shine on you.

As I’ve mentioned in one my previous post I don’t fancy having Guinness neat. As an additive in cakes, breads or stews, it makes the final product flavorful. I adapted Nigella’s Guinness Chocolate Cake and tweaked a wee bit. I used dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder and replaced the cream cheese frosting with a green colored boozy frosting. First time I made this cake, I was amazed at it’s super moist texture and deep chocolate flavor.

These cupcakes are fluffy and airy, not beery as it gets baked out in the oven.The real kick comes from the frosting made with ‘Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Honey Liqueur’. I didn’t have Jamesons to make these cuppies top to toe Irish. The frosting is like the creamy head (I made a green one for St.Patty’s day) on a pint of guinness. The mild chocolate and coffee notes of guinness marry well with 100% dark chocolate to produce these delicate and incredibly moist cupcakes with a tangible richness of the draught.

For this recipe I recommend using a stout/ porter. I used Guinness draught which is a variant of Stout. You definitely need the ‘fizz'(aeration) in the beer. Flat beer does not produce the same result. I’ve not tried with an ale or lager. Lagers may not give the malted tang flavor and the dark hue. Since I used the unsweetened chocolate baking bar that already has butter, I cut the butter by half. And there is no need to soften the butter as few of the liquid ingredients are heated before forming a batter. I also replaced the sour cream with plain yogurt to make a reduced fat dessert.

Makes 12 cupcakes plus 8 x 2 inches square pan

1 cup Guinness draught/ stout * I poured a bottle of draught. For non-alcoholic version, replace beer with tonic water (club soda) or fruit beer.

1 1/4 cup unbleached organic all purpose flour

1/2 cup organic butter (unsalted)

3 oz 100% dark chocolate * I used ghirardelli baking bar. Can be substituted with 1/2 cup natural or dutch processed cocoa powder

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 cup sugar * I used organic cane sugar. Can be substituted with refined white sugar

1/2 cup organic plain yogurt

2 Eggs

Method

Roughly chop the chocolate bar. Preheat oven at 350º F/180° C.

Beat yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in a small bowl.

Mix flour and baking soda in a large bowl.

Place a wide pan on medium heat, pour the beer.

Whisk in chopped chocolate and butter. I threw in the whole stick of butter. Slicing it may help melt faster.

Stir in the sugar.

Mix until everything is dissolved to form a brown syrup. Do not boil. Remove the pan and cool it for about 10 minutes.

Pour egg/yogurt mixture into the flour.

Add the brown syrup to the rest of the ingredients. This batter will be runny. Don’t Startle. It’s just fine. Combine well using a spatula.

Spoon the batter into lined muffin pan. I had extra batter that I poured into a greased square cake pan. Do not keep the excess batter out for long as the aeration dissipates. Use the batter to make a small cake. I got a thin sheet of square cake which I served without frosting.

Bake at 350º F/180° C for 15-17 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a wooden skewer into the center of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, then it is done.The cupcakes were done earlier than the square cake. Bake the pan cake for another 10 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

Jack Daniel’s Boozy Frosting

2 cups confectioner’s/ icing sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)

3 tablespoons Jack Daniels Whiskey Honey Liqueur * Can be substituted with any whiskey. I poured a full 50 ml bottle (more the merrier and boozy) If you prefer less boozy frosting, then reduce the amount of whiskey. This gives a runny frosting. Adjust quantity as per consistency desired.

Few drops of green food coloring * optional

Pinch of Salt

Method

Cream the sugar, butter, salt for at least 5 minutes using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Pour the whiskey. Whisk well till combined.

Add few drops of food coloring and whisk till you get the desired color and consistency. The frosting should be fluffy and smooth. The whiskey is potent, so adjust as per preference. Adjust consistency as preferred.

The 4 leafed clover chocolate ganache shamrock was made by hubby darling. He was helpful in  making these cupcakes and putting up this post. And the photos were shot by him 🙂

These black beauties are gorgeous with or without frosting. Even the Leprechauns will love these beer cupcakes and squares.