St. Patty's Day Treat For Grown-Ups: Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

A few weeks back I got the idea to make some Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, after making a Stout Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen for a friends birthday. I love Irish Car Bombs and couldn't help but think cupcakes with irish crème filling and a whiskey glaze sounded pretty awesome.

Since it was so close to St. Patty's day, I waited it out and brought them in as a holiday treat for my co-workers. I wasn't sure how the whiskey glaze would go over, I even make these back-up cupcakes: the same stout cake with a simple irish crème frosting.

Both were gobbled up,but the back-up's were totally unnecessary. These Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes were a hit! They were also clearly more popular then the back-ups.

Stout Cake – makes 24 cupcakes

1 cup stout beer

1 cup/2 sticks unsalted butter

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Irish Crème Filling

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/3 cup Irish Crème

Whiskey Glaze

2 Tbsp Butter

2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup Whiskey (Irish whiskey would be most appropriate, but honestly it's not what I used)

The directions on smitten kitchen say to bring the beer and butter to a simmer over medium heat, the whisk in cocoa until smooth and cool. The First time I made this cake I didn't notice this complicated step and just mixed everything together. This time I did it correctly. I am not convinced this makes a difference. Proceed according to your own discretion. I probably won't bother to do it again.

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add eggs, sour cream and butter and beer or chocolate mixture depending on how you did it. Mix just until combined.

Fill muffin tins ¾ or a little more full. I recommend using papers because this cake is moist and can be hard to work with if it's not wrapped in something.

Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, beak together filling ingredients until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When cupcakes are cool make a slice in the top with a knife. Fill a pastry bag with flavored whipped cream, using a small tip. Insert in the slot made in the top of the cupcake. Fill slowly, just until cupcake starts to spread open a bit like it might break in half if you keep going.

Simply mix together ingredients for whisky glaze with a spoon until combined*. Spread or decoratively drizzle over the cake tops.

*Warning: This glaze will smell pretty strong. The end product DOES taste like whiskey, but in a good way, so don't be afraid.

(For the back-up cupcake frosting I simply beat together 2 Tbsp softened butter with 2 oz softened cream cheese and 2/3 cup powdered sugar. I mixed this with 2 cups of the same whipped cream mixture I used to fill the Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. This produced a very soft and light frosting. I dropped a spoonful on each cupcake (no filling) and spread it a little bit by gently pressing with the back of a spoon.)