When my son turned 16 in December, he wanted a Guinness cake. I can see what you are thinking—beer cake? Isn't that a little...weird? Actually, no. Guinness makes a wonderfully moist, deeply chocolate, cake. The only problem was that the recipe I had made a cake far too large for our little family of three to finish off in one go, so I adapted the recipe to make..you guessed it...cupcakes!
We topped these with chocolate ganache to make them even more intensely chocolatey, or a frothy cream cheese icing—you pick!
Cupcake Ingredients:
1/2 cup Guinness beer
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and line the cups of a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter with the beer until smooth. Whisk in cocoa and sugar, then set aside to allow to cool. In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add a bit of the warm beer mixture to temper it, whisking as you go. Continue to add more a a little at a time, whisking, until you've added it all.
Stir in the flour and baking soda, continuing to whisk until it is smooth. Divide the batter among the cupcake tins, filling about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool before frosting.
Once frosted, the cupcakes should be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2-3 days.
Makes 12 cupcakes
Chocolate Ganache Topping Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp whipping cream
1 tbsp butter
4 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
In a saucepan, warm up the cream and butter together over low heat until the butter melts. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Stir the chocolate until it's melted and smooth, then set aside somewhere cool to let it thicken up until it's the consistency of pudding. You can put it in the fridge to speed the process if you need to, but watch carefully! Spread the ganache on top of each cupcake.
Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:
It may seem strange to have whipping cream in an icing recipe, but if you follow this recipe, it whips up into the most amazing cream cheese icing I've ever tasted.
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp icing sugar
4 oz full fat block cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup whipping cream
In a bowl using an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the icing sugar bit by bit, until you have incorporated it all. Next, pour in the whipping cream and beat well until the icing is fluffy. At first it will seem like a soupy mess, but don't panic-show that icing who is boss and it will come together.
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
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