Showing posts with label guinness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guinness. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Guinness Cupcakes with Whiskey Ganache and Baileys Frosting
This little gem came to me by way of Miss Maggie Stumpf. She found it on SmittenKitchen.com.
I decided to make them as an early Valentines Day gift for Brian. He cleaned the bathroom for my Valentines Day gift. I think thats a pretty good deal for both of us.
These are a little more labor intensive than regular cupcakes, but they are so worth the extra effort.
First, chocolate and Guinness cupcakes are baked. The Guinness makes the cupcakes so light and fluffy, I was amazed. MMmmm foamy beer goodness.
While the cupcakes are baking you can make and cool the Whiskey ganache. This was actually my first time making ganache, and now its my favorite word. I didn't have an apple corer or a round cookie cutter, so I used a liquid injector. Not as easy as it sounds since ganache is not actually a liquid. But thats what I have a big, strong husband for.
And yes, he did help make his own cupcakes. Shush.
Once the cupcakes are filled its time to make the frosting!
Butter. Powdered Sugar. Baileys.
Heaven.
Go ahead - try them for yourself!
Adopted from Smitten Kitchen
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup Guinness (or other stout beer)
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream
Ganache Filling
8 ounces dark chocolate (I used a mix of milk and dark chocolate)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey
Baileys Frosting
3-4 cups confections sugar (I used 3 cups)
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys
Extras
1-inch round cookie cutter, an apple corer or liquid injector (not recommended, but it gets the job done)
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.
- Bring 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth, cool slightly.
- Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
- Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat briefly on a slow speed.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in batter until completely combined.
- Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.
- Bake cupcakes until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes.
- Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Make the ganache
- Chop up the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate.
- Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth (you can melt it further in the microwave for 15-20 seconds at a time if the chocolate isn't completely melted).
- Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes:
- Let the ganache cool until it is thick but still soft enough to be piped
- Meanwhile, cut out the centers of the cooled cupcakes with your 1-inch round cookie cutter or apple corer. Make sure you don't cut all the way down to the bottom of the cupcake.
- Put the cooled ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
- If you are using a liquid injector, fill the cupcakes until you can see the top pop up a bit, trying not to burst open the cupcake.
Make the frosting:
- Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want it to be very light and fluffy.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar, a quarter cup at a time.
- When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined.
- Frost and decorate the cupcakes until your little heart is content
Happy Valentine's Day!
Brians Birthday Weekend
Immediately upon arrival we headed to the Guinness factory. Ok fine, we checked in to the hotel first, but Brian was literally tapping his foot with one hand on the door ready to go. If you'll remember Brian also went to Dublin on his birthday last year - yes folks this seems to becoming a tradition.
The Guinness factory was actually really cool. Its a self guided tour so you can take as little or much time as you like learning all about Guinness, they give you a free taste (or 6) of Guinness and a full pint in the sky bar is included in the ticket! And they have the biggest gift store ever, which explains why Brian came home with an armful of Guinness goodies last year.
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| barley for the beer |
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| thats a lot of barley! |
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| water to make the beer |
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| getting our free sample |
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| more free samples... |
After we were done with the tour we headed up to the Brewery Bar for some grub. As you would guess a lot of the items on the menu are made with Guinness, which I have learned is pretty genius. Take for example my Beef and Guinness stew...
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| you can see Brians stew in the back! |
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| umm ridiculous |
After a couple more hours up at the sky bar (with amazing views of the city of Dublin, except not when we were there because obviously it was grey and rainy) we decided it was time to move on. To another pub.
The next morning we had a delicious breakfast at Queen of Tarts, which Brians brothers girlfriend recommended to us as she still dreams about their chocolate pear tart (which I took back to London with me and now I also have said dreams). We only had a little time left before our flight so obviously we booked it to the Jameson distillery. We didn't actually have enough time to take the tour, but we managed to indulge in some Jameson hot chocolate and irish coffee before it was time to head out.
And then we were at the airport.
And that is where I discovered the best.place.ever.
I think it was called something like Chocolate World (I made that up, I don't remember what it was called, as clearly I was too distracted by what my eyes were seeing to pay attention to the name). And it had cupcakes, treats and champagne on a conveyor belt for you to pick and chose as you wish.
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| ummm, seriously?? |
Wha-wha-whaaatttt??
And on that note,
The End
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