Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Irish Cream Frosting

For years, I have been making this cake using the recipe that my friend Dennis had generously provided me. Not that there was anything wrong with his recipe, I just wanted to know for myself why there was a great number of recipes out for for Chocolate Stout Cake. And so I have made it a point to try different ones to see which are better. I've also used other stouts as well, especially when I'm making a vegan version.

When I saw that King Arthur had their own Chocolate Stout Cake recipe, I had to give it a whirl.

What You Need
2 cups stout or dark beer, such as Guinness
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups Dutch-process cocoa
4 cups AP flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your muffin pan(s).

[I unfortunately only have one muffin pan. :(]

2. Place the stout and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.

3. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

4. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sour cream.

6. Add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.

7. Add the flour mixture and mix together at slow speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute.

8. Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes.

9. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before you remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack before frosting.

I unfortunately don't remember what recipe I used for the butter cream, specifically. I used one stick of room temperature unsalted butter and a bunch of powdered sugar (sorry, I usually don't measure, I just add a bit until I get the consistency I like) and then intermittently add some Irish cream until I get the consistency and flavor I like.



BTW, this made a LOT of cupcakes, which is good to know. Like, at least 4 dozen cupcakes. I gave some to my stylist since she was coming in on her day off to give me a haircut, I brought a bunch to work, and I also brought a bunch home to my family in IL. My sister-in-law and nephews were visiting for spring break then.

Also, this is my current favorite recipe for Guinness Chocolate Cake.