If the title didn't give it away, today I was busy busy baking goodies for this weekend. It's tulip time in Pella. Which is a 3 day festival celebrating our Dutch community. They are parades and more food than you could ever imagine eating in 3 days (but most of us try!). It's been something that I've been a part of since I was born. I've dressed up in a Dutch costume every year through high school. I was in marching band and have done so many other things. It's a huge part of every Pellan's life.
So if all those other food stands are up why am I busy baking? At the ambulance office during the weekend we have an abundance of goodies and food for those of us working so we can easily grab something before being called out or whatever the case may be. So I made some Caramel Brownies a new recipe from "Just call me Maria", some chocolate fudge bars that's a recipe my mom has had forever. They're delicious. And I had a request from my good friend to make cupcakes. He pretty much hasn't stopped talking about them since he tried them. I was contemplating not blogging about them because I'm kind of greedy when it comes to my favorite recipes but I figure it's probably better to share so more people can enjoy the delicious chocolatey cupcakes. At first I was hesitant because I do not like Guinness or any dark beer for that matter. Through so research though, I found that the Guinness flavor exaggerates the chocolate flavor. So I thought I'd give them a try. I could barely stop eating the batter after I got a small taste. Fabulous.
I found the recipe on Pinterest but it comes from Sugar Dish Me. I signed up to get her new postings and so far I haven't seen one that I wouldn't mind trying. I haven't looked much deeper in to any of the other ones but if they're half as good as the Death by Chocolate Guiness Cupcakes, they'll be amazing. 
Death by Chocolate Guiness Cupcakes
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Sugar Dish Me
Serves: 24
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup Guiness Stout
- ¾ cup Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- Frosting
- **1 cup butter
- **3½ cups powdered sugar
- **1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- **1/2 teaspoon salt
- **2 teaspoons vanilla
- **4 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed to desired consistency (Bailey's Irish Cream works great!)
- Ganache
- ***1/4 cup heavy cream
- ***3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ***2 tablespoons butter
- ***2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 325. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the Guiness and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Let cool slightly for a few minutes.
- While the chocolate/butter/beer cools, using an electric mixer on low, beat the eggs and sour cream into the flour mixture. Pour in the chocolate and continue mixing until combined, about 1½- 2 minutes.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the muffin cups.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
- To make the chocolate buttercream, beat the butter for a minute until it’s fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, beating a little in between each addition. Sift in the cocoa powder and beat until it’s combined. Add the salt, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream. Continue mixing until smooth. Add the last 2 tablespoons of heavy cream (or Bailey’s; see note), more if needed, to reach the desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake.
- To make the chocolate whiskey ganache, heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it simmers (be careful not to burn!). Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until smooth. Whisk in the butter. Then whisk in the whiskey.
- Drizzle the ganache over the frosted cupcakes. Let it cool and set before serving.
When I made them the first time I did not make the Ganache because I wasn't sure if Jack Daniel's was bourbon Whiskey. I do like Whiskey but didn't want to go back to the store to get a bottle. (I did learn that Jack is bourbon whiskey so next time I make them I will try it). This time I am using cream, not baileys and no whiskey in the ganache so that they are friendly for those of us on call for EMS. :) I added some vanilla extract in place of the whiskey.
The frosting is very fluffy from the cream, so it is probably easiest if you pipe it on not frost. When I made it with Bailey's it was thicker so I used a knife to frost them.
Well I think the chocolate drizzle really finishes it off. They may be messy but they're well worth it.
Let me know how you like them! I'm excited to try other recipes with beer/liquor in them. I think they're prefect for summer time!
~Enjoy!~
