How to Make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Baking the Cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Turn the oven on before you start mixing ingredients. This will give it plenty of time to heat up, so your cupcakes can bake evenly. If you can’t leave your oven on the entire time you prep ingredients, turn it on around 15 minutes before you put the cupcakes into the oven.

Line 2 cupcake pans with liners. Place a liner into each slot in the pan. Paper or foil liners will both work just as well. Spritz each liner with a bit of nonstick spray after tucking them into the pan. This will make it easier for you to peel back the paper from the cupcakes when you eat them.

Chop unsalted butter into several 1 tablespoon (15 ml)-sized pats. Use a regular butter knife to portion out the butter into individual pieces. Add the butter to the saucepan as you cut. Don’t turn on the heat just yet.

Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of Guinness over the butter. Warm up the Guinness and butter over medium heat. Stir the ingredients with a whisk to blend. Keep heating the pan until the butter has melted. Whisk in the ⁄4 cup (180 ml) of cocoa powder until blended. Afterward, remove the mixture from the heat.

Pour the salt, baking soda, sugar, and flour into a bowl to mix. Use a wooden spoon to stir the dry ingredients together. Be sure to stir gently. Fold the ingredients with the spoon instead of moving the spoon circularly; doing the latter may kick up the ingredients and cause spills.

Mix the sour cream and eggs separately from the dry ingredients. Crack the eggs one at a time, adding both the whites and yolks to a new bowl. Mix the wet ingredients with an electric mixer (if you have one), using the “whip” setting. If you don’t have an electric mixer, a clean whisk will work just as well.

Add the saucepan mixture to the wet ingredients. Give the saucepan mixture a stir to recombine the ingredients, just in case they’ve separated as they’ve cooled. Pour it into the mixing bowl and whisk vigorously to blend everything together. Wait an additional 10 to 15 minutes for the Guinness mixture to cool down if the saucepan still feels warm to the touch. If the mixture is too warm, it will cook the eggs on contact.

Mix in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, 1 batch at a time. Pour the dry ingredients directly into your mixing bowl. Adding the dry ingredients gradually will make it easier to blend and create a smoother cupcake batter. Set your mixer to “low” to stir. Don’t add in the next batch of dry ingredients until the first has blended in, with little to no clumps of dry ingredients left behind.

Fill the cupcake liners ⅔ full with batter. Use a spoon to distribute the cupcake batter into the liners; this makes it easier to prevent spilling. Try to limit the batter to filling no less than ⅔ of the of the liners. You can go as high as ¾ of the liner. Either of these amounts will ensure a decent-sized cupcake but minimizes the risk of overflow.

Bake the cupcakes for around 15 to 17 minutes. Place the cupcake tins in the middle of the rack. Now is a good time to start cleaning up your kitchen while the cupcakes bake! After those first 15 minutes are up, test your cupcakes for doneness by sticking a toothpick into one cupcake. If it comes out with no residue, the cupcakes are totally done.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool. Set the pan aside for around 10 minutes. This will give them enough time to become cool enough to handle directly. After those first 10 minutes, remove each individual cupcake from the pan and set them on wire racks to cool for 30 more minutes, or until they reach room temperature.

Making the Ganache Filling

Chop up a bar of bittersweet chocolate. Use a sharp kitchen knife to dice up the chocolate by hand. Alternatively, if you have a food processor, break the chocolate up into chunks and dump it into the mixing bowl. Pulse the food processor until the chocolate breaks up into fine slivers. After chopping, pour the chocolate into a new, separate bowl.

Heat up ⁄3 cup (160 ml) of heavy cream on the stove. Turn the stove up to medium heat. You want the cream to warm up, but not boil. Bring the heavy cream to a steady simmer. If you’re short on time, use the microwave to heat up the cream. Set the timer for about 30 to 40 seconds.

Add the heavy cream to the chocolate. Pour the heavy cream directly on top of the chocolate. The cream will start to melt the chocolate on contact. Once all the cream is poured in, set the bowl aside for 1 minute. Afterward, whip the mixture with a soft spatula. Scrape the spatula against the bowl’s sides to get all of the ingredients mixed together.

Pour 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of whiskey into the mixture. Stir the mixture again until it is completely blended and has reached a smooth consistency. After stirring, let the ganache rest for a few minutes—just long enough for it to get thicker. You may want to check on it periodically and give it a test stir to see how it’s coming along. The best consistency for the filling will be similar to peanut butter. Any thicker and the filling will be too rich. If the filling is too thin, it will spill out of the cupcake when you’re eating it and make a mess.

Carve out the middle of the cupcakes with a paring knife. Guide the knife in a circle, cutting a round piece out of the cupcake. Don’t push your knife all the way toward the bottom of the cupcake. Instead, sink the knife around ⅔ of the way down. The filling should sit inside the cupcake rather than seeping through into the liner. Eat the scraps if you want, or share them with others; you don’t want any bit of those delicious cupcakes to go to waste!

Add the filling. Use a small spoon or a cookie scooper to drop filling into the cupcakes. Try not to overfill them. You want the ganache to just reach the top of the cupcake. One scoop should be enough for each cupcake.

Refrigerate the cupcakes for around 20 minutes. The ganache will need time to firm up to gain the best possible texture. Around 20 minutes in the freezer will give the cupcakes enough time to thicken. Remove the cupcakes from the fridge when you’re ready to frost them.

Frosting the Cupcakes

Whip 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of unsalted butter in your mixer. The paddle is the best mixer attachment to use; it will whip the butter into the perfect, airy consistency. Set the mixer to “medium-high” and whip the butter until it visibly fluffs up. This should take at least 30 seconds.

Pour in the 3 cups (710 ml) of powdered sugar slowly. Set the mixer to medium-low to avoid creating a powdered sugar cloud. Tilt the bowl of powdered sugar gently so the sugar doesn’t pour in too fast. Keep the mixer going as you pour so the sugar will blend into the butter well. It’s okay if the mixture looks hard and crumbly; the Bailey’s will soften it up.

Add 4 teaspoons (20 ml) to 8 teaspoons (39 ml) of Bailey’s. Pour the 4 teaspoons (20 ml) of Bailey’s in to start off with. Beat the mixture until it turns to soft, smooth frosting. If the frosting isn’t smooth enough after adding the first 4 teaspoons (20 ml), add another teaspoon to the mixture until you reach the desired consistency. You’ll typically need no more than 8 teaspoons (39 ml).

Load a piping bag full of frosting. Scoop the frosting into the bag with a soft spatula. Keep going until the bag is almost full, then shut the bag by squeezing the open end shut. Don’t tie it off; you may need to refill the bag with more frosting. Attach a decorated tip to the end of the bag to squeeze your frosting into fun shapes! If you don’t have any piping bags, spread the frosting onto the cupcakes with a soft spatula.

Squeeze the frosting onto the cupcakes. Work in a circular motion, starting from the outside edges of the cupcakes and moving toward the center. Pour slowly so the frosting will fall evenly. It’s okay if the frosting isn’t perfectly neat; the taste will make up for it! If you like, shake sprinkles over the frosting for further decoration.