This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.
These Irish Car Bomb cupcakes are made with a chocolate Guinness cupcake, Irish whiskey ganache and Baileys buttercream which really makes it the perfect St. Patrick's Day treat. You may be wondering why they're called Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Well it's because they are inspired by the popular drink which includes dropping of shot of Baileys and Irish whiskey in some Guinness beer and drinking it quickly before it curdles. Don't worry though, you can take your sweet time eating these boozy cupcakes.
This recipe is also going in line with the Guinness trend we have going on for the past two weeks. Neither myself nor Lauren are huge fans of Guinness so we wanted to use it all by baking/cooking with it. Thanks Julie Amorese for getting me the recipe, adapted from Brown Eyed Baker. We had our friends Lindsey and Matt in town for the weekend so this was a perfect excuse to bake a sweet treat. They are big foodies like us so I wanted to make something I knew would be awesome!
These cupcakes definitely did the trick. The Guinness in the cupcake brings out the chocolate flavor. The Jameson in the ganache center really just gives it a slight whiskey kick. And then the sweet Irish cream buttercream brings all the flavors together. I suggest you make these Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for your Saint Patrick's Day festivities. Enjoy!
What Ingredients are in this Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes Recipe?
- Alcohol - Guinness, Irish Whiskey, Baileys
- Unsalted butter
- Cocoa powder
- Chocolate chips
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Egg
- Greek yogurt
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
How to Make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
1. Melt butter and Guinness in pan.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl and set aside.
3. Add cocoa powder and chocolate chips to Guinness/butter mixture and mix until combined. Allow to cool slightly
4. In stand mixer, beat together eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture and beat until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Scoop batter ⅔ of the way full in cupcake liners.
6. Bake at 350°F for 17-19 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Place on cooling rack and allow to cool.
7. Heat heavy cream and add chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
8. Mix together cream, chocolate, butter, whiskey and vanilla extract. Set aside.
9. Make Baileys frosting by beating butter with whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce speed and add powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Add Baileys and beat for another 2-3 minutes until you reach desired consistency.
10. Once cupcakes are cool, cut out holes.
11. Add ganache to cupcakes.
12. Pipe Baileys frosting on top of cupcakes.
What if I Don't Have Guinness?
Not a problem. You can easily replace Guinness with some freshly brewed coffee. The point of either Guinness or coffee is to bring out the chocolate flavor. However Guinness cupcakes are pretty hard to beat and Guinness cupcakes with Baileys frosting really put you in the St. Paddy's Day mood.
How to Make Chocolate Ganache
The key to a good ganache is to heat the heavy cream to a simmer but not a full boil. Then pour the cream into the bowl with the chocolate and let it sit for a minute or two. If using a chocolate bar, finely chop it beforehand. After you've let the chocolate melt for a couple of minutes, use a rubber spatula to combine the ingredients. At this point you'd stir in the butter and whiskey, but you don't have to use whiskey if you don't want to. However these are boozy cupcakes for a reason!
How Long Do Cupcakes Last?
To maximize the shelf life of Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, place them in a covered airtight container or cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
- Cupcakes at room temperature will last 1-2 days
- Cupcakes in the fridge will last 1 week
- Cupcakes in the freezer will last 4 months
Tips for Tasty Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
- The Guinness helps just intensify the chocolate flavor. But if you don't want to use it, just use freshly brewed coffee.
- If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can either replace with sour cream.
- All refrigerated items should be at room temperature, which helps the batter mix easily and evenly.
- Use natural cocoa powder vs Dutch-processed cocoa powder as natural cocoa powder isn’t as intense of a flavor.
- You may not realize this but baking powder and baking soda actually expires pretty quickly. Use baking soda that is less than six months old since it has been opened. If you use older baking powder, it won’t be powerful enough to help leaven the donuts. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use.
- When adding the batter to the muffin tin, don’t fill more than ⅔ of the way as they do rise.
- You know the cupcakes are done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
- Don't let the ganache cool too much, otherwise you won't be able to pipe it out.
- Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before adding the ganache and frosting, otherwise it will melt.
Other Cupcake Recipes
If you’ve tried these Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup Guinness stout
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Ganache
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Irish Whiskey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, greek yogurt and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined. Add the chocolate/Guinness mixture to this and beat until just combined. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Use a rubber spatula and fold the batter until completely combined.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until each one is about ⅔ of the way full. The batter will be slightly thicker than a typical cake batter.
- Bake 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.
Ganache
- Place the chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat the heavy cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for 2-3 minutes and then stir it.
- Add the butter, whisky and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool till thickened, but still soft enough to pipe out.
- Using a knife, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. (I take a knife and cut about a 1 in diameter circle, angling the knife in slightly so it comes out evenly). Put the ganache in a piping bag or a sandwich bag the corner cut out. Fill in the holes of the cupcakes.
Frosting
- Using the whisk attachment of a mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl after every minute. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2-3 minutes until it is light and fluffy.
- Using a piping bag with a large decorating tip, or an offset spatula, frost the cupcakes. Decorate how desired.
Notes
- The Guinness helps just intensify the chocolate flavor. But if you don't want to use it, just use freshly brewed coffee.
- If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can either replace with sour cream.
- All refrigerated items should be at room temperature, which helps the batter mix easily and evenly.
- Use natural cocoa powder vs Dutch-processed cocoa powder as natural cocoa powder isn’t as intense of a flavor.
- You may not realize this but baking powder and baking soda actually expires pretty quickly. Use baking soda that is less than six months old since it has been opened. If you use older baking powder, it won’t be powerful enough to help leaven the donuts. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use.
- When adding the batter to the muffin tin, don’t fill more than ⅔ of the way as they do rise.
- You know the cupcakes are done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
- Don't let the ganache cool too much, otherwise you won't be able to pipe it out.
- Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before adding the ganache and frosting, otherwise it will melt.
Man you just keep rolling out great recipes!
Are these ok for minors? Or no I know the alcohol bakes out of the cupcake. But would it be too much in the ganache and frosting?
Hmm good question. I would say its ok depending on the age. The ganache has just 1 tsp of whiskey and you could just leave out if you prefer. For the frosting, Baileys has a pretty low alcohol content to begin with at 17%. You can always just reduce slightly as well. I would say it just depends on what you are comfortable with. Sorry to not give a great answer!