Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream Icing

I am always trying to keep up with the seasons by buying seasonal items, as well as making recipes for holidays and giving people tips for entertaining. Today I decided to celebrate Irish heritage and searched through loads of recipes. I had a chocolate cake in mind and I wanted to incorporate Guinness. I think I have seen Guinness chocolate cake on a menu once. So I searched through many recipes and combined them into my own. I must say this is one of the best chocolate cake/cupcake recipes I’ve ever made on my own. I have no idea where these recipes started from but the base idea is the same. I tweaked it to fit my own needs and you should make it and see how it goes! I also decided “Hey, if I’m getting Irish, I might as well make something with Baileys! Right?” I thought it was a great idea. I have no idea how to really make buttercream but I went on my instincts from watching my mom make icing and it really worked. Came out really good! I encourage anyone to try this for St. Patty’s Day or for any occasion you want to impress. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes but can easily be doubled for a larger group. Oh and if you omit the Baileys in the icing it would be appropriate for children, but as the recipe goes they’re for adults. Enjoy!

*Note: For all my American readers, it’s really hard for me to convert this recipe into US measurements, I suggest you get a scale, or if you’re in a pinch, message me on my Facebook page and I can walk you through it in US measurements.

Very light and fluffy.

Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter
125g self-raising flour
100g dark brown soft sugar
50g Silver spoon Half Spoon (If you don’t have this use 100g granulated white sugar)
50g Green & Blacks Cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
75ml non-fat yogurt ( I used Yeo Valley)
125ml Guinness draught

For the Icing:
55g unsalted butter room temperature
200-300g icing sugar
3-5 tbsp. Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

To start:
Heat an oven to 175C or 350F
In a medium saucepan combine, butter, brown sugar, Guinness, cocoa powder and vanilla on a low heat until the butter and brown sugar is melted – do not boil. Take off heat and leave to cool slightly.
In another big bowl, sift together flour salt, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Slowly pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir to combine until smooth.
Next add the egg and yogurt and stir well until combined and no lumps.

To Bake:
Line 12 muffin cups and pour the batter in evenly through the cups.
When the oven is hot place them in the middle and bake for 20-25minutes.
At about 20 minutes check them with a tooth pick, if it doesn’t come out clean cook for a further 5 minutes.
These cupcakes are REALLY soft and will feel uncooked.
Take them out and leave them to cool completely before trying to eat them or ice them.

To Finish with Buttercream and Ice:
You can do this while the cupcakes are baking.
There really isn’t an easy way to explain this; it’s a bit of trial and error getting the mixture right.
The idea is to mash all the butter until soft and have it absorb the sugar a little at a time.
When the butter has absorbed some sugar, add a little bit of Baileys, then more sugar then repeat until you have a good thick consistency and enough icing for your cupcakes.
These measurements did my cupcakes no problem.