Guinness stout cupcakes

So being completely bored the other day and then stumbling upon one of the many recipe tweeters I follow, I ran across this contest to make a cupcake with this specific chocolate and using one of several different "adventure" ingredients. So I decided to try chocolate cupcakes made with Guinness stout. Now I have made a Guinness chocolate float before, which was really good!! I will make one this upcoming St. Patty's day and post it. I don't think I took pictures when my sister and I made them. So, I have used Guinness for other edible purposes with success, so why not add it to a cupcake. So I did- with some success!!


Below is the recipe and photos of the process. The Guinness is very strong in the batter but it is really, really good! Here is the link to the contest info should anyone else dare to be adventurous with cupcakes. It was fun to try but not sure I am going to enter. Scharffen Berger Chocolate Adventure Contest.


Surprisingly there are several variations of the stout cupcakes, as well as various stouts to use for the cupcakes. I chose Guinness because I already had a willing and ready bottle chilled in my fridge. I am not a huge chocolate cake fan, but this was good! Not overly sweet as many can be- just right almost. I made an attempt at chocolate buttercream icing but that was not as successful but it did give the cupcake an overall balance of just the right sweetness- so I was told by a friend who tried them. 


Try it out- vary the stouts and have fun! That's the purpose with baking, make it your thing and have fun!


The cupcake:

• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 stick, plus 1 tb, unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tb vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350; butter a muffin tin.

Combine the Guinness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold into the batter. Pour into muffin molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from muffin tin, and cool completely on a rack.

Now having tried this, I think a good cream cheese icing would be fantastic- therefore give this a shot for a nice topping.

The icing:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup milk

Using a mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth, sift in sugar, and beat. Add milk, and beat until smooth. Spread glaze over cooled cupcakes.

To create a thinner glaze, use a tablespoon or two more milk; for a topping more akin to icing, use less milk, and perhaps more sugar. In either case, add a little sugar or milk at a time, mix, and check for desired consistency.