Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Icing

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I wanted to test out my recipe for Guinness cupcakes before the big day to make sure it didn't need any tweaking. Guinness cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes that use a dark stout to enhance the flavor. To keep with the theme, I decided to also make Bailey's icing.




Ingredients for cupcakes:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz bottle of Guinness (or any other dark stout)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.

Dry Mixture
In a large mixing bowl, combine the Guinness, melted butter, and vanilla. Add in eggs, one at a time. Whisk in sour cream until smooth. 

Wet Ingredients
Gradually mix dry mixture into the wet mixture, and mix until well combined.

Finished Batter
Grease 24 muffin tins, or place paper cupcake liners into the tins. Fill the tins 3/4 full. (I used an ice cream scoop, and needed about 2 scoops per tin)


 Bake for 12 minutes and then rotate the pan. Bake another 12 minutes.

Cupcakes right before turning the tin
Check the cupcakes by sticking a toothpick into the center, it should come out clean.

Or mostly clean :)
Cool for 10-15 minutes and decorate with icing.

Ingredients for icing:
1 stick of butter
3 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream (start with 2 and then add more if you'd like)
Milk, if needed to get to desired consistency


Use a hand mixer to beat butter until smooth. Add Bailey's and half of the sugar and beat until smooth. Add other half of the sugar and repeat. If the mixture is too thick, add a bit of milk to thin and beat until smooth. (Note: be careful to not add too much, a little bit of milk goes a very long way!)

Easy!As I said before, these cupcakes end up tasting like enhanced chocolate cupcakes. The icing adds a nice touch to the St. Patrick's Day theme (you can taste the Bailey's, but only slightly). If making for children, feel free to not include the Bailey's. Also, if you're short on time, you can just buy normal icing and add the Bailey's to give it a homemade touch.
 
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