I made these cupcakes for my husband’s birthday at the beginning of the month – mostly because he loves cake, frosting, Guinness, whiskey, and all other things Irish. After a bit of searching, I found this recipe that uses not one but three kinds of Irish alcohol! What better way to celebrate. They came out incredible! The frosting was particularly amazing, but the beer and whiskey really adds a great depth to the chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes

Cake:

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Filling:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Frosting:

3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350. Bring stout and butter to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder and cool slightly. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, whisking to combine. Beat eggs and sour cream together in another bowl. Add stout/butter mixture to the egg mixture slowly (so you don’t scramble the eggs accidentally!) Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix briefly on slow speed. Portion batter into lined cupcake tins; it should fill 24 cups approximately 2/3 of the way. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the ganache:

Melt the chocolate. Heat the cream until it is simmering and then pour over the chocolate. Let sit for about a minute and then stir until smooth. Add butter and whiskey stirring to combine. Let cool until it starts to thicken. You can use an apple corer to cut out a hole in the cupcakes, but I chose instead to use a piping bag, poked a hole in the cupcake and filled them. The cupcake will swell a little, but I did not have any crumble on me.

For the frosting:

Whip the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, several tablespoons at a time. When the frosting begins to look thickened, add the Bailey’s – if it becomes too thin, add some more sugar. This was more than enough to frost my 24 cupcakes.

During our recent voyage to Ireland, we had the good fortune of visiting West Kerry, particularly enjoying Dingle town and peninsula. It was one of the highlights of our journey – not only was the scenery amazing, but we managed to have a drink at a combination hardware store & bar, eat at a brand new gourmet restaurant that had only opened 4 days earlier, and have the world’s most amazing ice cream. We were passing our evening wandering the streets of Dingle and enjoying the sites before retiring to our B&B when we came upon Murphy’s Ice Cream – having spent all day in the warmth and sunlight, we decided to stop in for a scoop. Quite possibly, this was the best decision on our entire trip! My husband & I both chose the Chocolate Whiskey ice cream, which was creamy and chocolatey and rich and amazing.

When we got back, I went on a bit of an Irish cooking kick…scones, stew, meat-laden breakfasts…and one day, I decided I would try to make the Chocolate Whiskey ice cream. After a quick Google search, I came upon this site, published by the same folks that happen to own Murphy’s! While I am quite sure nothing will ever match that scoop of ice cream I enjoyed while meandering through the streets of Dingle, this came as close as I think I can get without an international flight. I made small adjustments – mostly to accomodate using US measures – and it came out pretty accurate! A candy thermometer was very helpful for this dish, as I wanted to make sure the eggs were pasteurized. It is a bit labor-intensive, however completely worth it unless you can jet across the Atlantic at will to get Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream fashioned by pro’s.

Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 cup milk

1 scant cup heavy cream (7oz or so)

5 squares (or ounces) dark baking chocolate

3 tablespoons Irish whiskey (I used Tullamore Dew because it was what we had on hand)

Instructions:

Melt the chocolate – I put the chocolate in the microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring in between. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until well blended. Bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Remove from the heat and then add very slowly to the egg mixture (so you don’t accidentally cook the eggs too fast!) mixing constantly. Put the egg-sugar-milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat to 165 degrees farenheit, keeping it at that temperature for 5 minutes until the custard is thick. Immediately remove from the heat, and add this to bowl with the melted chocolate, stirring to combine. Let this cool (covered in plastic wrap) in the fridge. Stir in the whiskey. In a separate bowl, whip the cream on high until you have soft peaks and then fold this gently into the chocolate whiskey custard. Chill completely, and then freeze according to the instructions on your ice cream maker. Enjoy!