I don’t really care for goodbyes.
 
It might just be me but I think they are kind of awkward & sad.
The worst part is that there are so many ways to accomplish this sad awkwardness:
 
There’s the weird hug that lingers just long enough to make you drop your arms hoping it signals “let go of me” but the other person still keeps on hugging…so you slowly raise your arms back up to keep hugging them only to have them pull away and leave you there with your arms weirdly outstretched….
 
There’s the weird “handshake-hug-high-five-confusion” that happens with people you kind-of-sort-of-know just well enough to be confused as to where your relationship stands at this very moment…
 
There’s the uncomfortable “waving-goodbye-from-a-foot-away” which I feel is like a slightly less bitchy way of saying, “I’d really prefer if you wouldn’t physically touch me as we part”…
 
There’s the “oh-yeah-and-one-more-thing” goodbye which leads to the “saying-goodbye-five-times-before-you-actually-leave” goodbye.  
 
There’s the “I’m-saying-goodbye-to-a-kiss-on-the-cheek-goodbye-kinda-person” that leaves you feeling like you are either better looking than you thought you were or like someone just over-shared about their last OB/GYN visit.
Yeah…I don’t really wake up in the morning missing that one.
 
 
Lucky for me, I chose friends that are none of the above.  
For instance, when a friend recently left on a trip to Ireland for 6 weeks, not one person shed a single tear or waved goodbye 6-inches away from my face.  
Yup, my friends are pretty awesome & socially appropriate.  
So in order to thank my Ireland-bound buddy for not being weird & never ever kissing me on the cheek, I made her these Guinness Irish Cream Cupcakes!
They are a delicious mix of Irish whiskey, Irish Cream, Guinness, 
chocolate & buttercream.
If you don’t happen to have any store brand Irish cream on hand (for example, the Bailey’s I pictured above), you can make your own using my Homemade Irish Cream recipe. This recipe will make more than enough liqueur to make the frosting with leftovers for Irish Coffee’s all week long.  
Who said St. Patrick’s Day can’t be St. Patrick’s week?
Even though these cupcakes were pretty boozy, I promise no one over-hugged each other & there wasn’t even one Irish goodbye said that night (google it!)

Tip: You don’t have to buy full sized bottles of alcohol for this recipe. I bought one large Guinness bottle for this recipe because I don’t really drink a lot of beer but as for the whiskey…I didn’t play around. I got the full size!
 Don’t judge…
Start by whisking the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  
No need to sift, it’s a booze cupcake not a soufflé, you can relax. 
Add Guinness & butter to a small saucepan & stir mixture over medium heat until it begins to simmer & all the butter melts.  
Add cocoa powder to butter & beer.
That last sentence made me smile…said the fat girl…
Don’t judge.
Let the cocoa/butter/beer cool a little before you add it to the egg/yogurt mixture so it doesn’t cook the eggs & you end up with scrambled beer cupcakes! 

In your mixer bowl, combine eggs & greek yogurt until fully combined.  It should look something like the picture below.  No lumps & no streaks of egg. You can also use sour cream instead of the greek yogurt if that’s what you have on hand.  
Experiment with both & choose your favorite!

Add the chocolate/Guinness mixture to the yogurt/egg mixture until just combined.  Then add the dry ingredients & fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula because over-beating batter just like with kids, will lead to one troubled, tough cupcake.

To make the ganache, I used my favorite chocolate chips but you can use any chocolate as long as it’s chopped into smaller pieces.  Pour hot cream over the chocolate and begin to stir until all the chocolate has melted.  Then stir in butter & whiskey. 
TADA! Whiskey Ganache!
Now to prepare the cupcakes for filling!  The easiest way to cut a hole in a cupcake is to use the opening of a large piping tip (I used a Wilton 1M tip).  I kind of find that twisting it a little helps loosen the piece you are digging out.  Once that piece is out, you can place your ganache in a piping bag, cut the tip off & fill the cupcakes with yummy drunken chocolate.

Now for the frosting! It’s just like making any other buttercream frosting only instead of milk, you add Irish Cream! There’s no need to cover the ganache with cake before piping on frosting. It will hold just fine once the frosting covers it 🙂

All there is to do now is enjoy these little bad boys with a couple of good friends…and hand over your car keys…Because getting a DUI off of cupcakes might just make the cops laugh at you.

Enjoy!

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Guinness Irish Cream Cupcakes

Guinness Irish Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cupcake Ingredients:
  • 1 cup Guinness Beer (stout)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup High Fat Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 2/3 cup greek yogurt
    • Drunken Ganache Ingredients:
  • 8 oz. Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips (or any bittersweet chocolate chips)
  • 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (I used Alta Dena Manufacuter's Cream but any heavy cream will due)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. Bushmill's Whiskey (or any Irish Whiskey!)
    • Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting Ingredients:
  • 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 6 Tbsp. Irish Cream liqueur (you can use the link to take you to my homemade Irish Cream recipe or buy it pre-made)

Instructions

    To Make Cupcakes:
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
  2. Line your cupcake tins with liners. (If you want to present these for an event, I suggest later putting the cupcakes in another liner so that the color shows up. The Guinness/chocolate mix tends to "bleed" through the liners so use white because the color doesn't really show up!)
  3. To a medium saucepan, add Guinness & butter & bring to a simmer over medium heat. Slowly add cocoa powder while whisking until fully incorporated & mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly. You don't want to add a hot mixture to your egg mixture & get scrambled eggs!
  4. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda & salt into a large bowl to combine. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, combine eggs & Greek yogurt. Add the Guinness/chocolate mixture & beat until just combined then reduce the speed to low & beat until you no longer see white streaks. Stop the mixer & fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula until all the ingredients are combined.
  5. Fill the cupcakes liners 2/3 of the way full with batter leaving a little room at the top so that they don't spill over!
  6. Bake for about 14-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
    7. To Make Drunken Ganache:
  7. Pour chocolate chips into a medium heat safe bowl. In another microwave safe bowl, gently heat heavy cream until it just begins to steam. My microwave takes about 90 seconds but since not all microwaves are the same, check it after about a minute. Pour hot cream over the chocolate & let sit for about 30 seconds. Begin stirring from the center outward until all the chocolate has melted & is a smooth consistency.
  8. Add butter & whiskey & continue to stir until combined. Allow the ganache to cool to the touch but still be soft enough to pipe into cupcakes.
    9. To Fill the Cupcakes:
  9. Using the large opening of a large piping tip, insert into the top of cupcake about 1/2 way down. Pull up while twisting slightly to remove the center of cupcake. If it does not come out cleanly, you can use a small knife to get the center out.
  10. Fill a piping bag with the ganache and cut off tip. You don't need to attach an actual piping tip because you are just filling, not decorating 🙂 Fill the center of the cupcake with ganache until it reaches the top. Ganache should be level with tops of cupcakes so your frosting won't fall in the hole. Just a note, I noticed that after I filled them, the ganache actually settled & dipped lower than the tops of the cupcakes. If this happens, then just add more ganache...(pssh, ok...if I have to, right?!)
    11. To Make Irish Cream Frosting:
  11. Using a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, whip butter on medium-high speed until fluffy & light (or for about 5 minutes). Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally so you make sure to whip all of the butter evenly.
  12. Reduce speed to low & add sifted powdered sugar slowly. Keep whipping until all of the sugar has been mixed in. Add Irish Cream & increase the speed to medium-high continuing to whip for another 2 minutes. Frosting should be light & fluffy & no streaks of sugar or Irish Cream should be left.
  13. Using a piping bag with a decorating tip, frost cupcakes & decorate as you wish.
  14. Store leftovers in an airtight container...but I doubt there will be any left to store 🙂
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