Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes With Baileys Frosting (Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes)

I may not be Irish, but I still love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.   A  leprechaun always visits my house and is sure to make a  mess!  Over the years, my son has constructed several types of contraptions in hopes of capturing the little fellow!  Although he may not be successful, the kids are always excited to find the gold candy coins and green treats he leaves behind!

This year, I decided to try an "adult" recipe that I've been hearing a lot about.  It's modeled after a drink called an Irish Car Bomb.

 For those of you who are unfamiliar, it is a shot of Baileys with a layer of Jameson Irish Whiskey floating on top.  The shot is then dropped into a glass of stout beer and the drinker must consume the entire drink before it curdles!   I've never experienced the drink, but have been dying to try these cupcakes!


**While the Guinness in the cake gets baked out, the whiskey and Baileys is potent!  If you're making these for people who don't drink, omit the whiskey and substitute milk or Irish Cream coffee creamer for the Baileys!


Makes 24 cupcakes




Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 box chocolate cake mix + ingredients to make cake
1 cup stout (Guinness)
2/3 cup sour cream

Chocolate Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Frosting
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3 tablespoons Baileys

*note:  This recipe did not make nearly enough frosting for all of the cupcakes.  My suggestion would be to double it.

Directions

Cupcakes:  Bake the cupcakes according to the box, substituting stout for the water and adding the sour cream.

Filling:  Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Heat the cream until simmering and then pour it over the chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute to melt and then stir until smooth. (If the chocolate doesn't completely melt, you can microwave it at 30 second intervals)  Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Let the mixture cool until it's thick but still soft.

While the mixture is cooling, use an apple corer to hollow out the center of the cupcakes.
( I'm going to use the centers for cake balls!)

Put the filling in a Ziploc bag and snip the corner off.  Fill the hole in each cupcake to the top.

Frosting:  Beat the butter until light and fluffy.  Slowly add the confectioners sugar and continue to beat until thick.  Add the Baileys and beat until combined.  If the frosting seems too thin, you can just add more sugar.

YUM!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!