We're not quite sure how to classify this one. It's a cupcake for chocolate lovers, bar flies, and people who generally like to eat rich. The Irish car bomb cupcake is a rich, moist Guinness chocolate cake with a flavorful whiskey chocolate ganache piped in the center and creamy Baileys frosting on top.
The cupcakes are good for any and every occasion, and an easy way into anyone's heart. (We think we have about a dozen new admirers after serving them.) This recipe may sound intimidating, and admittedly, there are a lot of steps. But if we can do it, you can too.
We found the recipe on the blog, Smitten Kitchen.
The Ingredients.
We used holly patterned cupcake liners for our cupcakes. They're festive and can be found anywhere!
We also used Guinness Extra Stout because we are Guinness fiends for the cupcakes. It's super important to keep whisking the choco-beer mixture as you go, otherwise it gets clumpy.
When combining the wet with the dry, don't be scared to mix it a whole lot. The smoother the batter, the better the cupcakes.
Bake the cupcakes until you yield a successful toothpick test, where it comes out clean. This means the cake is fully cooked. We generally like to check the center. Then cool the cupcakes completely and get ready for coring.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the ganache to speed up the process. Just make sure it cools until it has a pudding-like texture, this may require some refrigeration.
We've found an apple corer works wonders for hollowing out the centers of the cupcakes for the ganache; just make sure not to poke through the liners.
You can use a plastic Ziploc bag to pipe the ganache into the cupcakes, cutting the tip off of one corner. Then fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
The Bailey's frosting is so delicious that we wish we could top everything with it. Don't worry if it clumps up a little while you're making it, it will smooth itself out with more mixing and the addition of the Baileys.
Icing and decorate the cupcakes is definitely the second best part, right after eating them. We used a star tip to make it look festive, then red and green sprinkles to really drive home that holiday cheer.
Of course, if you're a cupcake fan of the Jewish persuasion, go for the blue sprinkles. They look just as cute, if not cuter with the little stars of frosting.
To present these guys to someone special, we like to go over to ABC Baking, a store that is loved in the eyes of Best of Phoenix, and buy a pink bakery box. They come in different sizes, but the best part is they have cupcake inserts so your dessert masterpieces don't slide around. After the cupcakes are nice and cozy, wrap ribbon around the box with a nice bow. But a serving platter works well too if these are going to be devoured quickly in a group setting.
For those of you with vegan loved ones, next week's recipe will please even the pickiest dairy haters.
*This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes, but works equally well when cut in half. (Just in case you don't want two dozen cupcakes.)
This post was edited after publishing.
