Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!  Hoping this particular morning (er, afternoon by now) isn’t too painful after yesterday’s libations.  March 17th is the one day every year I’m allowed to fully indulge my Irish heritage name in my own food blogger way by merging the best of two wonderful worlds: classic Irish boozyness and the sweet indulgence of decadent cupcakes.

Last year’s round of Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes was missing whiskey (blasphemous!) but with my new cupcake corer in tow, I filled these dark, luscious baked goods with an even richer bittersweet chocolate whiskey ganache.

Do I have you drooling yet? (and not post-St. Patty’s day hangover drool?)

I used last year’s recipe and this chocolate ganache recipe.

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IRISH CAR BOMB CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

{quintessential irish beverages}

{prep bowls + eggs}

For the cupcakes
 1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness stout
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

For the ganache filling
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter (at room temperature)
2 tsp Irish whiskey (or more…)

For the frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 pinch table salt
3 tablespoons irish cream (I used Bailey’s…and was a little more heavy handed with this than the recipe called for)
1 tablespoon milk (I ended up using about 1 teaspoon more to get a creamer consistency)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease 24-30 cupcake cups, or fill with paper liners.

In a saucepan, heat the butter, Guinness, cocoa and brown sugar, whisking often, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

{guys, this batter tastes SO good. eff salmonella!}

Into the work bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large mixing bowl), sift together salt, flour, white sugar and baking soda. Add the cooled Guinness mixture and beat on medium for 1 minute. Add eggs and sour cream and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth.

{pouring the batter}

Divide the batter evenly amongst the cupcake cups. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then remove and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled.

{toothpick test}

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate ganache and frosting:

GANACHE: Heat heavy cream on low in a small saucepan.  Pour over chopped bittersweet chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted.  Add butter and whiskey.  Stir until combined.

FROSTING: In (cleaned) work bowl of stand mixer, cream butter until very light and fluffy. Add salt, and slowly add confectioners sugar. Do not run the mixer above low, or the sugar will spray all over your kitchen. Add a couple of spoonsful at a time until it has all been absorbed into the butter. Add Bailey’s and milk until spreadable consistency is achieved.

Once cupcakes have cooled, core your cupcakes (a cupcake corer is useful if you have one.  If not, find something in your kitchen with the diameter of about a nickel and press lightly into the tops of the cupcakes, creating an indentations about 1/4 inch off the bottom of the cupcake.

{guys, this batter tastes SO good. in yo face, salmonella!}

Using a pastry bag (or the cheaper version: a ziploc bag with the corner cut off), fill the cupcakes with the cooled chocolate ganache.

{feeling festive whilst piping whiskey ganache}

Frost cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting.

Pass these out at your local pub and toast to celebrating any tie to Irishness you may have (even if that means you adopt a terrible attempt at an Irish accent).

{mini cupcakes + mini liquor bottles}

{the beautiful, boozy insides of the cupcake}