Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes and Traditional Kentucky Bourbon Balls

   My next door neighbors were throwing a Memorial Day Party with a live band and about 50 people attending. I thought it would be an awesome time to see if these alcohol filled cupcakes were as good as they looked and sounded.
   The base of cupcake is the same as my normal chocolate cupcake, except I am going to replace the 1 cup of coffee with 1 cup of Guinness/Stout. I also double the ingredients to get 28 cupcakes.  The middle, is a filling of chocolate ganache made from bitter/ semi sweet chocolate chips and Irish Whiskey. The frosting tops off the cupcake with a buttercream frosting featuring Irish Cream Liqueur. Now, this cupcake might just smell as if it is drenched in alcohol, but I promise the taste is smooth and subtle. If you want something stronger then I would suggest using a pastry brush to add more Irish Whiskey to the cupcake before filling it.
   I will do the recipe for the Traditional Kentucky Bourbon Balls as soon as I get a few extra minutes. I have had to rewrite my blog and have not had as much time as I thought I would to invest in writing.

Chocolate Cupcake
Makes: 28
Oven: 350 F
Cook Time: 18-20 min

Ingredients:

3 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa
2 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vanilla Paste/ Vanilla Extract
12 TBS Olive Oil
1TBS Vinegar
2 Cup Guinness or Your favorite Stout

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, sift together : Flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In a 2 measuring cup, I pour my Guinness, then pour in the vanilla, vinegar, and olive oil. Stir together.
Pour your liquid mixture into your flour mixture and stir just until blended. It will still seem kinda of soupy and lumpy. With the Guinness in it, you will also notice the really strong smell. It will be fine though, I promise it will not taste that strong.
Pour into your cupcake holders and bake for 18-20 min. I do start checking around 15 min in and then every 2 min after. My oven is fickle at times. Don't over fill your cupcake holders, I fill just over half full.
After you take them out of the oven, I usually give them 5 min and convert them from pan to cooling rack.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

 

8 ounces bittersweet/semi-sweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 to 3 tablespoons Irish whiskey 

Directions:

Pour the chocolate chips into a bowl. I normally heat the cream in my measuring cup, then pour it over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until smooth. Cool until thickened, but soft enough to pipe. I did use an extra tablespoon of whiskey when I made these because the person helping me swore he could not taste the alcohol. It gave the ganache more of a mouse like texture. It was pretty great.

Fill the cupcakes:

Cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but don't cut  through the bottom. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. I trimmed the extra cupcake off the piece I cut out and then place the top back over the hole. You can skip this step if you like, the frosting will be covering up the ganache even if you don't use the cupcake to do it.

  

Bailey's Buttercream Frosting

 

4 cups powdered sugar (Sifted) Not mandatory to sift but gets rid of any lumps in your frosting.

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 - 6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

pinch of salt

Directions:

 

Beat your butter in mixer until creamy and fluffy. Add Salt. . Slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time mixing until combined. Add the Bailey's 1 TBS at a time until you reach your desired consistency.