Tipsy Irish Cupcakes

I wanted to make my new co-workers a St. Patrick’s Day treat, and I knew right away that I would make these cupcakes. There are already a couple iterations of this Guiness chocolate cake with Baileys frosting in the archives; the first was a simple one layer cake, and the second was a super-hydrated bundt cake we made as part of Baked Sunday Mornings. Of course, the cupcake version also gives me an excuse to bring my CUPCAKE BRIEFCASE to work, which I love.

Cupcake Briefcase

Instead of Guinness I used another porter style beer, as recommended by my personal beer sommelier Heather (I literally text her photos as I’m in the LCBO and she tells me what to buy!). I also use my own recipe for the icing, because it’s just the best.

Stout

Finally, thank you to Jenny, because I’m stealing her name for these cupcakes, which I find so cute!

Cute Cupcake

Tipsy Irish Cupcakes

Source: Smitten Kitchen (name courtesy The Brunette Baker)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1/2 cup stout (i.e. Guinness)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup sour cream

Icing

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
  • 1/4 cup Baileys

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
  2. In a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, add the stout, butter and cocoa powder. Heat for 30 seconds – 1 minute until the butter is melted, and whisk until smooth.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  4. In a large bowl, beat the egg and sour cream until combined. Add the stout mixture and beat again until combined. Add the flour mixture, and mix briefly until just combined. Switch to a spatula and blend it the rest of the way by hand.
  5. Divide batter among cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
  6. For the frosting, beat the butter, sugar and Baileys until smooth. I used a piping bag with a large round tip to pipe large dollops of icing on each cupcake, then used a small offset spatula to swoosh the icing down. Then cover with sprinkles!