This Irish Car Bomb Cupcake recipe from scratch takes a popular St. Patrick’s Day drink and turn it into an amazing dessert. Rich chocolate cupcake made with Guinness stout is filled with gooey, dark chocolate ganache, and topped with Irish cream cheese frosting. Nothing will impress your guests more this holiday!
Hello, all! It’s Chelsey from Budget Girl again with another boozy dessert!
A few years ago when Zach and I were still just dating, we attended our one and only St. Patrick’s Day party. At the time, neither of us knew anything about baking. For some reason, though, we got it in our heads that we should make a cupcake recipe. From scratch. And then bring it to the party.
Looking back, it was insane. These cupcakes were way beyond our skills. They turned out OK, though. Not great, but not bad.
It’s been six years or so since then and I have managed to not only master, but perfect this cupcake recipe.
Here’s something I tend to do–instead of reading the directions, I just start mixing the ingredients together. It’s any wonder my food is ever edible at all. With this recipe, it is incredibly important to follow every step exactly for the cake. (With the ganache and frosting, there’s more room for experimentation.)
With the cake, stout (Guinness) makes up most of the recipe’s liquid…and now I want to bake everything with beer. It’s a lot of fun. 😛 It makes them very moist (the ganache) adds to that.
For the frosting, I had some trouble getting the recipe just right. At first, I just whipped up your everyday butter cream frosting, but added Irish cream to the mix. It came out too thick and was really sweet. I have a huge sugar tooth, so when I find something too sweet, there is definitely something wrong. So I added 8 ounces of cream cheese and wow. New favorite frosting.
The frosting and ganache can both be stored in the fridge overnight if needed. However, they will need to be left out to sit for at least an hour to soften before using.
The cupcakes are moist and delicious and you’re probably going to eat five before you even realize what you’ve done. But making a cupcake recipe from scratch is so worth it. 😛
On to the recipe!
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Ingredients
For cupcakes:
- 1 cup Guinness (stout)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsps baking soda
- 3/4 tsps salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
For ganache:
- 1 cup (8 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup French vanilla coffee creamer
- 2 tbsps butter
- 1-2 tsps Irish whiskey
For frosting:
- 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 5 tbsps Irish Cream (Bailey's)
Instructions
For cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, bring 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup butter to a simmer. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, blend the eggs and Greek yogurt together. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture, whisking quickly as you go so the eggs don't cook. Pour the chocolate-egg mixture immediately into the flour mixture and blend until well-combined.
- Divide batter among lined cupcake tins. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool completely. Make the ganache and the frosting while the cupcakes cool.
For ganache:
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the coffee cream and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Stir in the whiskey.
- Put the ganache in the fridge and let it cool until it's thickened, but still soft enough for piping.
- Once the cupcakes and ganache are both cool, use a dessert corer to remove the center of the cupcakes. (Or, with a spoon, create a 1-inch wide hole.) Only go 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down into the cupcake.
- The ganache can be spooned into the center of the cupcakes, but it's much easier to just put it in a baggie, cut off the tip, and pipe it into the holes. Fill all the way to the top.
For frosting:
- Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a medium-to-large bowl. Add the confectioner's sugar and blend until well-combined. Blend in the Irish cream.
- Spread (or pipe) the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
Can’t wait to try these cupcakes
Yum! So worth the time!
Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared.
I just pinned your Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipe with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
These sound delicious! Pinning and sharing. Thanks for linking up to #HomeMattersParty
Holy cow! These look amazing! I need to sample one right now!!! 😉 Pinned and sharing. Thank you for joining us at Family Joy Blog Link-Up Party. I hope you will join our next party starting today at noon EST.
I think you’ve got it! Thank you for bringing them to FF in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
These cupcakes look super cute and delicious!
Your cupcakes look so pretty Camille, you got me at chocolate and Baileys! Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday 🙂
Very cute and they sound delicious!
Thanks for sharing at Funtastic Friday!
the name is in very poor taste,
Agreed! It would be great if you could have a wee think and come up with a name for your cupcake that doesn’t mock or glorify the horrible bloodshed of past decades in Ireland.
p.s. these are so pretty. I get that you’re trying to replicate a well-known drink in a cupcake form, bu think this name really should be retired in all contexts. I’m sure you or someone creative could come up with a name that leaves behind this dark past.
How many cupcakes does this recipe make?!
Hi Megan. The recipe makes 24 cupcakes. Enjoy!
This looks so delicious! We featured you at The Project Stash…stop by and pick up your featured button. We can’t wait to see your latest creation(s)!
Thank you for sharing your Irish Inspired delicious cupcakes on #PureBlogLove with us last Thursday, hope to see you again this Thursday!
These are fantastic St. Patrick’s day cupcakes! I am featuring you this week, over at Simple Supper Tuesday. We hope you can join us again, starting Monday night at 8pm EST.
Thanks for the feature, Cindy!
Camille/Chelsey, these look amazing! You are so talented. And you made these from scratch! Way to go! Thank you for sharing it with us at SHARE IT ONE MORE TIME. Hugs/kisses, from Rose, FineCraftGuild.com
Chelsey is incredible, isn’t she?! 🙂 thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for linking up at Oh My Heartsie Girl WW!
My husband is going to love these! BTW, is it weird that I’ve never had an Irish Car Bomb? Or Jager Bomb? Or really any kind of bomb? HA! Thanks for sharing on Found & Foraged!
Ha ha – I hadn’t either. Although I know you could put a shot in beer. I had no idea that was a “bomb”!
These look ridiculously AMAZING! Pinning!!!
Thank you, Tara! 🙂
Thanks, Tara! And thanks for pinning!
What a perfect St. Patrick’s Day recipe! Thanks so much for sharing at Totally Terrific Tuesday! I hope you stop by to link up with us again this week. Remember the party starts tonight at 10pm!
Christie ~ Sparkles of Sunshine
Thanks, Christie!
This is one sweet looking cupcake-love the combination of flavors! Saying hello from the found & forged link party!
Cathy
Thanks for coming by! Chelsey hit this one out of the park for sure.
Thanks, Cathy! The flavors certainly work well together! 🙂
OMG These looks amazing!! I love me some Irish Car Bombs but haven’t had one in so long. Put one in a cupcake? Yes, please!!! Definitely pinning this recipe. If you’re interested I do a linkup on Thursday’s called Thursty Thursday. If you want to, stop by tomorrow and link these up. They are perfect for the upcoming holiday and I can’t wait to try them out!! Cheers!!
Hi Kristin! I’ve never even had an Irish car bomb. Guess I’m going to have to give one a try! Thanks for the invite.
Thanks, Kristin! It had been a while for me, too, but I took care of that as these were baking. 😛 I hope you like them!