Never Too Late For A Little Irish

I know, I know – this is one of those recipes that’s coming up a day late and a couple dollars short – but now that I’ve emerged from my Irish-everything coma I have a recipe I whipped up this weekend that I have to share with you. It just can’t wait ’til next year!! How does Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Whiskey Ganache and Bailey’s Frosting sound? It doesn’t get better than a little bit of everything Irish, now does it?

Now, I know I’ll be losing credibility with many for the use of one product – a boxed mix – *Gasp* I know! but bear with me. There is a reason that boxed mixes have stood the test of time…they’re consistently good. There’s always a good crumb, a good moisture content and when you’re in a jam and already a couple of stouts into baking, it’s just easier in the long run to go with what works. Don’t judge me too harshly, okay? Thanks. *Whew!*

To begin with this Irish’d beauties, mix together 1 box of Devil’s Food cake mix,

1 1/2 cup of Guinness Stout, polishing off the rest yourself, if you’re into that sorta thing,

3 eggs and 1/2 cup of oil. Beat together furiously until the batter comes out smooth.

Pour about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter into a lined cupcake sheet and bake for about 18-20 minutes per batch. Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Whilst the cupcakes are baking and you’re finishing your Guinness, beat together your Bailey’s frosting.

Start with creaming together 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup softened butter until smooth.

Add in your Bailey’s Irish Cream,

your heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. You want the frosting to be about a medium consistency, about how thick the stuff from a can is… So if it’s too stiff, add in 1 teaspoon of cream at at time until it’s that consistency. Frostings are all a bit different and finicky sometimes.

For the whisky ganache (would you expect any less?) combine 2/3 cup chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons of whiskey and 2 tablespoons of butter into a small saucepan. With a wooden spoon stir these together over low-medium heat until they have just melted together. Chocolate has a tendency to continue to heat up after it’s taken off the stove, so just when you think they’re almost completely melted – remove them from heat and stir off the stove until melted. It’s a bad day when you burn or overheat your chocolate!

Set this beauty aside to cool slightly. When it’s cool enough to handle, spoon it into a pastry bag fitted with a bismark tip and you’re ready to fill your cupcakes! Place the tip about half way into each cupcakes, squeeze about 1 teaspoon of ganache into the middle, and then repeat with each cupcakes.

If you don’t have a bismark tip, you can take a knife to each cupcake, and remove a small little core of it giving you a place to fill  with ganache.

To frost your cupcakes, outfit a pastry bag or gallon zip-lock bag with a 1M tip. I like the 1M because it’s more open than something like a 2D. More frosting and fluffier crevasses – it’s the perfect cupcakes frosting tip. You can see me put it into action here, too.

Pipe a circle from the outside inwards and stack the frosting on top of itself until it creates that beautiful peak we all adore so much on cupcakes. The quintessential cupcake. Repeat this with all of your cupcakes and viola – done!

Just bit into one of these and be whisked off to Ireland. Put a little Irish in your belly. It’s never a bad thing.

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