Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes & Whiskey Cream IcingPrint Recipe

I have a fraction of Irish blood in me so I always feel like I should celebrate St Patricks day in some small way. I have never been one to partake in an all day pub crawl, wear a crazy leprechaun hat or drink green coffee (Starbucks – you have alot to answer for!) but I do like a little touch of green here and there.

These cupcakes are about as Irish as I am going to get this year, I have tried the recipe before, as a single cake which is just as great. The cake adopts the attributes of a good Guinness being dense and rich, this is perfectly complimented by the cream cheese icing with a tipple of Whiskey. You can barely taste the Guinness with the sugar counter acting any beer bitterness, though it does add a decadent depth to the chocolate.

If you aren’t heading off to the pub or going to watch the St Paddy’s parade, you might want to venture into your kitchen and enjoy some cupcakes, in the meantime I am going to leave you with a classic Irish blessing:

There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head.
If a man doesn’t drink when he’s living,
How in the hell can he drink when he’s dead?

whoops! that was the wrong one – sorry, here it is:

These things I warmly wish to you-
Someone to love
Some work to do
A bit o’ sun
A bit o’ cheer
And a guardian angel always near.

Happy St Patricks Day!

Ingredients
1 cup Guinness
4 ounces and two tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into peices
2 cups caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Icing
12 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cup icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
3/4 cup whipping (heavy) cream
2 tablespoons Whiskey (or less/more should your tastes prefer)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 medium sized cupcake cases in muffin tins.

Pour the beer into a large saucepan and add the butter, cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly until the butter melts. Whisk in the cocoa and butter and set aside.

Beat the sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and creamy (about 5 minutes), blend in the reserved beer mixture. Add the flour and baking soda, beating until just combined. Divide batter amongst the cupcake cases – filling to 2/3’s full.

Bake for 25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes, then remove cupcake cases from the tins and place on racks – allow to cool completely before icing.

For icing, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth, add the sifted icing sugar, whiskey and the cream and beat thoroughly until completely blended. Either spread the icing over the cupcakes or put into a piping bag and pipe.

Notes: If you would prefer to cook the cake whole, then pour the mixture into a prepared 9″ cake tin and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Source: Nigella Lawson

© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.