Bar Worthy Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

One of our best friends is celebrating a birthday today, and it's unfortunate that neither the husband nor I are able to attend the festivities. In lieu of our presence, I thought I'd prepare a fun treat for the birthday boy.

I chose this particular treat because it's a special drink that our little group of friends always made sure to enjoy every time we went out. These cupcakes are based on the Irish Car Bomb, whose name I am sure is offensive to some (sorry about that!). For those that don't know what this is, it's a "bomb" drink (a shot of something is dropped into another something and then you drink it as fast as possible) which consists of Guinness with a shot of some mixture of Jameson Irish Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream. See, it's Irish. And just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Slainte!

(I apologize for the political incorrectness, but I didn't invent the drink, the cupcake, or the name!)

I adapted my mine from the version Deb made on Smitten Kitchen. I used boxed cake mix and increased the liquor. Because hey, the birthday boy has plans for his party, and none of them involve being sober. And that's why, ladies and gents, we are calling them "bar worthy".

Bar Worthy Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cake

1 box Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups Guinness stout

For the Ganache Filling

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped up

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup heavy cream

3-4 Tbsp Jameson Irish Whiskey

For the Frosting

1 stick of butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

8 Tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

(you might be cringing at the 1/4 cup of whiskey and 1/2 cup Irish cream - I told you they were bar worthy!)

Start by preparing the cake using the package directions, only instead of water, use the Guinness. If your box says to use a different amount of water, do so (with the Guinness of course). Bake as directed, rotating your pans halfway through. Allow the pans to cool on a rack (or be like me and use the burners of your gas stove - off of course). Then transfer the cakes to the counter on a tea towel.

While the cakes are cooling, make the filling. Place your chopped up chocolate into a glass bowl. Heat up the heavy cream on the stovetop over low heat until it simmers. I'm a bad example and have a sadly stocked kitchen, so I used a non-stick frying pan. It did the trick. My (one!) pot is way too big for this task. Once heated through, pour it over the chocolate in the bowl and leave it alone. Walk away! Deb says to let it sit for a minute. That worked for me. I actually set the timer because I'm pretty impatient. Stir it around (finally!) to melt the chocolate and get it all nice and incorporated. Then stir in your butter (I had to smash it against the side of the bowl with my spatula) and your whiskey (add it a little at a time and taste as you go).



If it's warm, let it sit to cool down. Mine wasn't warm.

While waiting for the ganache filling to cool, go back to your cakes. You're going to cut some little holes to put your filling in. You could use a tiny round cookie cutter (1 inch) or an apple corer. I got all crazy and used a vegetable peeler. Then pipe it into the hole, right up to the top.

Make your frosting by whipping your butter until it gets fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, bit by bit (it got all crumbly on me at this point, almost like a pie dough). Then add in your Bailey's. Add it in a tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go. 8 tablespoons is A LOT, but that's what I was going for, with the birthday boy in mind.

I piped on the frosting with a round tip and then sprinkled on some chocolate shavings.

There you go. Now comment on how offensive this is because I named the cupcakes after the cocktail they're named for. Not really. You can go read most of the 500+ comments on Deb's post if you want that kind of drama.