Tasty Tuesday - Chocolate Guinness and Irish Cream Cupcakes

 Makes about 20-24

1 cup Guinness, foam removed
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream(not the wimpy low fat kind)

For the ganache filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used 70% cacao)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced
2 teaspoons Bailey's Irish cream

For the Bailey's buttercream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar(sifted)
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners--I use festive ones or parchment liners.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large, separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs in one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

With your mixer on low, slowly add in the Guinness. Don't panic when it curdles. It will all come together again when you add in the flour and sour cream.

Now slowly add in a third of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Mix in half of the sour cream. Repeat again by alternating between the dry ingredients and the sour cream, finishing with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined; DO NOT overmix.

Spoon the batter into the lined cupcake tins, about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or when a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes and allow to cool in their tins on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from their tins and cool completely on the racks.

To the make the ganache filling: Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream on medium-low until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. Add the butter and Irish cream and stir until combined.

Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to spoon into the cupcakes, about the consistency of pudding. Meanwhile, use a small teaspoon to scoop out the centres of the cooled cupcakes—aim for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way in depth. Reserve the scooped out cake--you can eat yourself as a reward for being such an awesome baker, or use it in a trifle with whipped cream and ladyfingers soaked in Bailey's. Spoon the ganache into each cupcake and set aside until ready to frost.

To make the buttercream: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Slowly drizzle in the Irish cream and mix until the buttercream starts to come together and look thick. If it looks too thick, add a bit of milk or cream.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes (if you want to pipe the buttercream, I'd suggest that you double the recipe of the buttercream). Enjoy!