Oh goodness.

This is my dear friend Efrat. I love her to pieces. Isn’t she adorable? She’s drinking a bourbon milkshake in this picture. She likes bourbon, chocolate and beer.

It happened to be Efrat’s birthday. Now, Efrat deserves a serious cupcake. A grownup girl cupcake. One with bourbon, chocolate and beer, of course.  So I made these little cakes of pure joy.

A rich dark chocolate cupcake, filled with bourbon ganache, topped with Bailey’s butter-cream. Say what??

Hell to the yes.

Happy birthday Efrat. Cheers to you!!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

 

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

For the  Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 cup stout (I used a Chocolate Stout from Whole Foods)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling

  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (I guess this is optional, but I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out!!)

Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)

  • 4 to 5 cups confections sugar
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Baileys (I had mint Bailey’s on hand it turned out delicious)

Also, a  1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer (this worked well for me) and a piping bag (a plastic bag with the corner snipped is what I used, and it works).

 

 

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, or your stand mixer (as I did), beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cakes about 17 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely. I made mine the day ahead, let cool, and put in an airtight container.

Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then whisk until smooth.  Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it – and you certainly should be) and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.  Aim for 2/3 of the way down – you don’t want to go all the way to the bottom. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You need to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar slowly, a few tablespoons at a time.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar until your desired consistency.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes. I sprinkled mine with pink crystals, shaved chocolate and topped with a cherry. It was a birthday after all.

Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them.