Guinness Cupcakes

A group of friends and I celebrated St. Patrick's day a little early yesterday. We boarded the infamous keg bus (which by the way, isn't allowed to carry kegs??!) and headed down to Arlington for a little fun. Since we were celebrating all things Irish and green and I said I would bring something along for the bus ride, I did a little research for a special St. Paddy's treat. So through a lot of searching, I found what looked like a great recipe for Guinness Stout cupcakes. Of course I made some changes to it, because let's face it, I can't just do what I'm told, I gotta attempt to make it a little better. I think the results were worth it. They were pretty darn good and everyone seemed to enjoy them. When people are taking seconds, and thirds, I take that as they enjoy them. So here's my version of Dave Lieberman's Chocolate Stout Cupcakes...

Guinness Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Frosting
(This recipe made roughly 100 mini cupcakes.)

*preheat oven to 350 degrees

3/4 C cocoa powder (I like the Hershey's Special Dark)
2 C sugar
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

1 bottle Guinness beer (I used the extra stout)
1 stick butter, melted
1 TBS vanilla
3 large eggs
3/4 C sour cream

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 C heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1-lb box confectioners' sugar


Cupcakes:

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt

In another large bowl, combine beer, melted butter, and vanilla.  Beat in eggs. Mix sour cream until thoroughly combined.

Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet.

Fill paper cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 12-14 minutes for mini cupcakes,  22-27 minutes for regular cupcakes.


Frosting:

Beat the softened cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.  Gradually pour the heavy cream and vanilla into the cream cheese while beating.  While on low speed, gradually add the confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. Keep in the refrigerator until you're ready to use on the cupcakes. 



I used a 12 tip to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes then dusted the tops with the ground bittersweet chocolate. And since we were celebrating St. Patrick's Day I used little green shamrock paper liners.