Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

It's the first Thursday back from spring break and what did I do? Skip both my double period classes AND consume three types of alcohol before 2pm. To answer the question I know you are now asking: yes, bad-ass is my middle name.

But whhhhy the truancy and outrageous alcohol consumption, you ask? Well, first off, my middle name kind of demands it. Second off, Saint Patrick's Days is two days away. So, really, what better food to make than Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes?

What exactly is an Irish car bomb? Geez, you're just full of questions today, aren't you? An Irish car bomb is when you take a shot of baileys and a shot of whiskey and drop them into a pint of Guinness. I've never had one myself because that sounds downright disgusting. However, mix those ingredients with loads of chocolate, butter, and sugar and put it into cupcakes form and then it's a whole different story.

Originally, I set out to make these cupcakes vegan. However, it wasn't until I was already on the way to the grocery store to buy the necessary ingredients that I realized something: this calls for Baileys...which is Irish cream. Irish cream. Yyyyyeah that's definitely not vegan. I didn't have time to research vegan Bailey's recipes and go back to the grocery store, so I decided to just buy normal Bailey's and let these cupcakes be mostly vegan. However, there do exist vegan bailey's recipes. I found a few here, if you're interested in making your cupcakes completely vegan.

As a side note, I definitely recommend consuming these cupcakes right before a midterm. No one ever told me being slightly tipsy while taking an exam could be so pleasant. Thanks for holding out on me, world!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Guinness

1/3 cup vegan sour cream

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Whiskey Ganache Filling

4 ounces dark chocolate

1/3 cup vegan milk

1 Tbsp Earth Balance, at room temperature

1 tsp Irish whiskey

Bailey's Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 50ml bottle of Bailey's, or 4 Tbsp homemade vegan Bailey's

For the cake batter, mix together the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and then combine. Either line the cupcake tins with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Fill about 3/4 of the way and bake 350 for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before removing the centers to fill with ganache.

For the ganache, melt the milk and chocolate in a double broiler (or, if you don't have a double broiler, in a ceramic bowl set on top of a pot of boiling water, which is exactly what I did). Remove from heat and mix in the earth balance and whiskey. Let cool until it's thick but still soft enough that it can be piped.

For the frosting, beat the earth balance on a medium-high speed until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar. After the powedered sugar is mixed in, pour in the Bailey's, mixing on medium-low for another minute or so.

Mmmmm. Creamy beige.

Now, for filling the cakes with the ganache. I found a recipe that said to use a 1 inch round cookie cutter to cut the centers out of the cupcakes...which I definitely don't have. So, instead I used this random gadget I found in my kitchen drawer. I haven't a clue what it's for. I decided it's clearly a 1 inch round cookie cutter replacer. If you don't have either of these objects, I'm sure a knife would also work just as well. Anyhow, I took the cookie cutter replacer and pressed it about half way into the cupcake. I then scooped out the center with a spoon.

Place the cooled down ganache in a piping bag (or if your desire not to do anymore dishes than necessary outweighs the fanciness you feel when you use a pastry bag, simply transfer the ganache to a ziplock back and cut a hole in one corner). Fill each cupcake to the top with the ganache. Top with Bailey's frosting and, if you're feeling really festive, green sprinkles.

Happy Saint Patrick's day everyone and póg mo thón! (By which I mean no offense, but it's the only Gaelic I remember of the very little I was taught...plus, ending a blog post about cupcakes by saying póg mo thón only adds to my bad-assery, amiright?)