Guinness Cupcake

Happy March!

I'm ringing it in on time, with a lovely festive cupcake. Being that I'm about 50% Irish, I do take pride in the heritage, minus the incessant freckles, so am very happy to have found a way to celebrate it in cupcake form.

I did have the pleasure of visiting the lovely Emerald Isle, and on that trip, went on a tour of the famous Guinness Brewing Factory - a worthwhile venture, if you happen to be visiting the area. We got a special lunch of delightful Guinness beef stew and pints of a type of beer they don't export to the states. Not that it was appreciated by everyone.

When I was sent a Guinness cupcake recipe from a friend, I was intrigued. Knowing that the stout has a rather strong, roasted flavor, and seeing the combo of Guinness and chocolate before, I had a feeling the two would compliment each other well. And so they do! This cupcake is rich, very moist, and does have a lingering stout flavor - a truly unique cupcake experience.

I did see quite a few variations on the stout cupcake posted online, but seriously have no qualms with the recipe I used, so recommend it and would use it again in a heart beat.

Ingredients

1 cup Guinness
1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat oven to 350° and line 2 cupcake tins.
Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan and add the sliced butter. Heat until the butter is melted and remove from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla. Add the sour cream mixture to the Guinness mixture in the saucepan. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda.
Pour the batter into the tins and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Frost with vanilla cream cheese frosting (1 stick of room temperature butter whipped with 1 bar (8 oz.) cream cheese, along with 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla).

If you are too skeptical to try the beer-in-cupcake method, but still need a St. Patty's Day option, there's always Irish Cream Cupcakes.