Double Chocolate Stout Cupcake with Irish Cream Buttercream

I married an Irishman. And St. Patty’s Day is like Christmas to him. So at some point you know I *have* to do this. Usually stout goes very well with chocolate but today’s recipe has a twist. Voodoo Ranger kindly sent us La Folie Grand Reserve Fernandito (cue the Spanish guitar!) which is a sour ale infused with chocolate and aged in bourbon barrels. I mean, the last part of that sentence alone hits all the right notes. I am happy to say that these turned out awesome! The chocolate cupcake came out not as sweet, which pairs very well with the Irish Cream buttercream frosting. Happy St. Patty’s Day!

By the way, this recipe makes 36 standard cupcakes. Perfect for a family of twelve!

Ingredients for cupcake:

• 1.75 cups (14 oz or 397 grams) La Folie Grand Reserve Fernandito from Voodoo Ranger/New Belgium (if you can’t find this, an Irish stout will work as well but your cupcake may turn out a little sweeter)
• 1.5 tablespoon instant Espresso powder
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups + 2 tablespoons (397 grams) all-purpose flour
• 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 2.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup (170 grams) cocoa powder
• 2.5 sticks (10 oz or 284 grams) unsalted butter at room temp
• 2.25 cups (454 grams) sugar
• 4 eggs at room temp
• 0.75 cup (170 grams) mayonnaise at room temp
• 6 oz (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate (If you can, use the baking chocolate and chop them roughly. You can also use chocolate chips but please also chop roughly.)

Ingredients for Irish Cream buttercream frosting:

• 3 sticks (339 grams) unsalted butter at room temp
• 6 cups (750 grams) powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (this is for flavor only and shouldn’t be enough to get anyone drunk but if you’re concerned, you can use the Irish cream flavor coffee creamer instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions for cupcakes:

• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the beer, espresso powder, and vanilla. Whisk to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together and set aside.

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• Preheat oven to 335ºF (168ºC) and prepare cupcake/muffin pans with cupcake liners. If you only have one muffin pan, then you can bake this in three different batches but just make sure that you clean and cool down the pan each time. The cleaning part is optional but trust me, cleaning 3-times baked-on cupcake batter is way less fun than 1-time baked on. The cooling down part is mandatory.
• Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. After a few minutes, gradually mix in the sugar and continue to mix on high until the mixture is fluffy.

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• Reduce the speed and then add the eggs one at a time. Make sure each egg is incorporated fully before adding in the next one. Add in the mayo and then mix until combined. (Note: this is my first time making a cake with mayo in it, and the mixture is the fluffiest I’ve ever seen! It’s like clouds!)

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• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add in the dry and wet ingredients from the first step, in three steps. So that’s: one-third of dry, then one-third wet, so on until everything is combined.

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• Mix in the chopped semi-sweet chocolate and fold in gently with a spatula.

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• Pour into each cup of the cupcake/muffin pan until about 80% full. This batter will rise quite a bit so if you prefer a flat cupcake top, then go to about 70-75% full.

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• Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Make sure you test one of the cupcakes in the middle of the pan because those will usually take the longest to bake. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.

Directions for buttercream frosting:

• In a large bowl, sift the powdered sugar. I’m usually not a fan of sifting but this one is important so that you get a good consistency in your buttercream.
• Using a whisk attachment in the stand mixer, cream the butter thoroughly. You may have to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times but make sure they’re nice and fluffy.
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, saving about a cup (no need to measure, just eyeball it). Gradually increase the mixer speed and whisk until all the sugar is incorporated.
• Add the Irish cream liqueur, vanilla, and salt. Mix until well-combined. Take a look at the consistency of the frosting. Gradually add in the remaining powdered sugar (starting the mixer on low and then increasing the speed each time so you don’t end up snorting sugar unless that’s what you want) until you reach the right consistency.

• I used a piping bag with large star tip but if you don’t have this, you can use a ziploc bag with one corner snipped off. If you don’t want to use ziploc bag, you can also just plop on about two tablespoon of frosting on to each cupcake. You may have heard the saying we eat with our eyes but I think we eat with our mouths and I don’t know about you but my mouth doesn’t care what shape that frosting looks like as long as it tastes good. 🙂
• Note that because your butter is at room temperature, your icing will be nice and fluffy. If you happen to be making the frosting ahead of time and storing in the fridge, you will want to let it come to room temp before frosting the cupcakes.