Happy St. Patrick's Day: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Guinness is probably my favorite beer, and I have been happy to see lots of recipes for Chocolate Stout Cake on the blogs lately. I decided to make cupcakes using this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. It is a simple cake recipe that combines stout beer with cocoa powder to give the cake a really interesting flavor. The stout adds a depth of flavor to the cupcakes without changing the chocolate taste. Instead of making the chocolate glaze that went with recipe, I decided to make a cream cheese frosting for the cupcakes. It was a nice balance to the chocolatey cupcakes. I halved the recipe and still came out with 24 cupcakes. Make sure to only fill the cupcakes about two-thirds full because they really do rise quite a bit.



Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting makes 24 cupcakes

Cake

• 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cups sour cream

Icing

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1-8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners. Bring 1 cup of stout and 1 cup of butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among cupcake tins. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For the icing:
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it is completely incorporated into the butter and cream cheese mixture, then mix in the vanilla extract. Once the cupcakes have cooled, spread the icing on top.