Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes w/Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

These are guaranteed to get you in a St. Patrick's Day mood.  I am not a beer drinker at all.  I have had a few sips of a Blue Moon twice in my life and I think I only liked it because it had a big slice of orange in it.  That is the total of my beer drinking. So I wasn't sure I would like these but you don't taste the beer as much as it changes the flavor of the chocolate taste in a good way.  The cupcake recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake.     

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

1 cup Guinness stout

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting

3 cups confectioners sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 tbsp baileys irish cream

4 tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract
Green sprinkles or green clovers

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
Bring the 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup unsalted butter to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to blend.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream until blended.

Add guinness-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined.  Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed.  Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Divide batter among cupcake liners filling them 2/3 to 3/4 full.  Bake until tester inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean about 15-17 minutes.  Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.  Makes 20-24 cupcakes.  While cupcakes are cooling make the frosting.

Mix softened butter, confectioners sugar, bailey's irish cream, heavy cream and vanilla until it is the right consistency.  Add more cream if needed.  Pipe onto cupcakes and top with green clovers if desired.

Enjoy!!  

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