Chocolate Guinness & Baileys Cupcakes

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First up an apology to anyone who got an email this morning with a sneak preview of this post, I was having a quick look at the draft and hit publish instead of edit! Mortified for myself. However I think the tease was worth it for these Chocolate Guinness and Baileys Cupcakes. Here it is now in it’s full – hopefully properly edited – glory.

Just in time for Patrick’s Day I’m jumping on the bandwagon with this post. I’m really feeding into the national stereotype here aren’t I? Booze and overindulgence in one recipe. But these are worth it I promise you. Both alcohols are subtle so don’t worry about an overpowering taste. One of the most popular chocolate cakes I have made is Nigella’s Chocolate Guinness Cake from her book Feast. I decided to adapt the recipe to my own taste – I have to have buttermilk in most cakes – and make cupcakes out of it. Or buns as we knew them in my day.

Now if you don’t like the ‘M’ word I suggest you look away now as I’m about to use it. A lot. The cakes are unbelievably Moist. While they are so moist they are also very light. So much so in fact that it is a difficult balancing act not to overpower them with the icing. I did a few test runs with these and in my original recipe the icing was too sweet and had too much Baileys in it. So I have chopped and changed it to my own liking. Feel free to adapt the buttercream whatever way you like yourself.

As the batter for these is so wet, which is what makes them so moist, put it into a jug to pour it into the cases as otherwise it will just go everywhere. The cakes are actually better the day after you make them, if you can hold off on eating them. The icing is quite soft due to the ganache in it. So once frosted, store them in the fridge but allow them to come to room temperature before you eat them or otherwise the icing will be set too hard.

If you want to make a cake, double the ingredients and bake in a 23cm/9″ springform tin for about 50 – 60 minutes.

For Baileys Cupcakes without the Guinness check out The Hungry Mum’s post.

Chocolate Guinness and Baileys Cupcakes

Makes 12-15 or 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 100ml Guinness
• 125g of unsalted butter
• 40g of cocoa powder
• 200g of caster sugar
• 75ml of buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 150g of plain flour
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• A pinch of salt

For the icing

• 50ml of double cream
• 50g of dark chocolate – 70% min
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 125g of unsalted butter, softened
• 70g of icing sugar
• 10ml of Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4.
• Line muffin tins with cases, either regular bun cases or mini muffin cases.
• In a large saucepan heat the Guinness and add in the butter. Allow the butter to melt fully.
• Whisk the sugar and cocoa into the pan until fully combined and then set aside to cool slightly.
• In another large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, egg and vanilla until they are combined and slightly fluffy.
• Pour the Guinness cocoa mixture into the buttermilk and egg and whisk together.
• Sieve the flour, bicarb and salt into the wet ingredients and fold until combined. Don’t overwork the mixture or you’ll end up with holes in the cakes.
• Use a jug to pour the batter into the prepared cases, filling them no more than ¾ of the way up.
• Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes (12 for mini cupcakes). This might seem like a long time but the wet batter means they take longer to cook than a regular bun. They are done when the middle is springy to the touch and when you insert a cake skewer it comes out without any wet batter on it.
• While the cakes are baking make the icing. Heat the cream and vanilla in a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat until it is simmering, don’t allow it to boil. Remove from the heat, break up the chocolate and stir it through the cream until you have a nice glossy ganache. Set it aside.
• In a large bowl beat the butter until it is completely soft. Sieve the icing sugar into the butter and beat it through until light and fluffy. Pour in the cooled ganache and the Baileys and mix it all until fully combined. Taste it to see if you want to add more sugar or baileys to the mix. Use a spatula to put it into an icing bag and keep it somewhere cool until you are ready to pipe it on to the cakes.
• When the cakes are cooked allow them to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack. Then you can ice them and enjoy!