Hello again, fellow foodies! I would love to say that my long absence from this blog meant that I had been eating a nutritious and well-balanced diet. Sadly, that is not the case. Between the job, the puppy, and the holidays, I just did not have time for my usual baking (aside from Christmas cookies, the recipes for which my mother keeps in a safe somewhere). But never fear! I have returned just in time for everyone's favorite Irish holiday.
I am not Irish, sad to say. I will admit that I left the house on March 17 wearing blue instead of green, with nary a thought of leprechauns. Thankfully, the day of drinking coincided with my usual Thursday beer sampling with my friend Max, so I was spared the trouble of trying to find a spot to sit at any of the local pubs. Instead I got to go home and wait for him to get off work. So since I had a few hours, I decided to make an appropriate St. Patrick's Day dessert - Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes!
They probably won't get you buzzed, but they are delicious. You can make them sweeter by using milk chocolate in the ganache and porter in the cake batter, and increasing the amount of cream cheese frosting. I prefer my chocolate bitter, so I used dark and unsweetened chocolate for the ganache (and there was lots leftover!), and a tangy stout from England (sorry, it's what I had on hand...Max and I really didn't need to keep extra Guinness around the house). Most recipes called for sour cream, but as usual I substituted Greek yogurt, which also decreased the sweetness somewhat. Don't like alcohol? Don't worry, you can't taste it in the cake, and there's only a hint of that whiskey flavor in the frostings. That being said, you may want to be cautious if sharing these at the office...
Otherwise, these little lovelies provide a perfectly good opportunity to celebrate the delectable and the delirious - the cupcakes are much safer than the cocktail.
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Chocolate Stout Cupcakes (adapted from Dave Lieberman’s recipe)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup thick yogurt, at room temperature
6 oz. dark stout (3/4 cup) at room temperature (I used an Oatmeal Stout)
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers or spray tins liberally with canola oil.
3. Melt butter and set aside to cool .
4. In a large bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, beer and vanilla until combined.
5. Sift all the dry ingredients together (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda) into a separate bowl.
6. Add about a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and blend well. Add the rest of the flour mixture, a cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When it’s blended but still a bit bumpy, add the butter and stir until smooth.
7. Pour batter into the twelve cups, filling each only about 3/4 full (I had enough for one more cupcake leftover – baked it as a cake in a ramekin).
8. Bake on center rack of the preheated 350 degree oven and for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let cool in tin on a wire rack for ten minutes then remove cupcakes from pan and let them cool completely on rack.
Whiskey Ganache (based on a basic ganache recipe at epicurious.com)
¾ cup heavy cream
8 oz. chocolate (I used a combination of dark chcolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and unsweetened chocolate)
1 oz. whiskey
In a heavy saucepan, boil heavy cream. Turn off the heat. Add chopped chocolate pieces and let it rest until melted. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until all the pieces are melted. Let it cool until it comes to the consistency of a thin frosting.
Dip cupcake tops (cool, please) into the ganache and swirl around. Pick straight up, invert, and place back on wire rack.
Alternatively (and I may do this next time), if you want the chocolate flavor to be a little stronger, let the ganache cool until it comes to a spreadable consistency, then spread a nice thick layer on each.
Either way, let the cupcakes cool for 5-10 minutes so that the ganache hardens somewhat.
Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. box powdered sugar
1 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream liquor
Microwave cream cheese for 20-30 seconds and place in bowl of stand mixer. Whip until creamy, then add Bailey’s. Whip for 30 seconds, then scrape down sides of bowl. Turn mixer back on to medium speed and slowly add powdered sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency. To pipe, scoop frosting into sandwich bag, cut a small hole in the corner, and squeeze gently over the ganache-topped cupcake. If you're design inclined, cut a slightly smaller hole and go crazy...as you can see, my creativity is not of a visual nature...
Consume...preferably with Guinness, and while wearing something green. Sláinte
