An Ode to Guinness in Honor of St. Patrick's Day

I don't actually drink Guinness. But I do buy it to use in cooking. In everything from appetizers (mussels steamed in it) to corned beef simmered in it, quite flavorful in a slow-cooked beef stew, and even in dessert. It imparts an earthiness, flavors like roasted coffee, chocolate, and a hint of molasses. Make sure you get canned Guinness Draught with the widget in the nitro can for authentic keg-draft smoothness, appropriate foam, and a less carbonated taste.

I made Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcakes with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting this weekend as dessert for our St. Paddy’s Day dinner. These beautiful, deep dark chocolate cupcakes are so moist and not too dense nor too sweet. The stout adds a rich complexity to the flavor of the chocolate, and the cupcakes puff out gorgeously with the perfect crumb. It’s hard to explain how good these are. And the Bailey’s frosting is truly the icing on the cake as they say on these little bites of yum. Trust me and make them. And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

One key to the success of baking these – any baked goods really – is to have all the ingredients at room temperature, including the melted butter, to ensure a smooth batter and avoid the butter seizing up when added to the rest of the batter. 

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 C low fat sour cream, at room temperature
6 ounces dark stout at room temperature
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 C cocoa powder
1 C sugar
3/4 C all purpose flour

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. baking soda
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
6 T butter, melted and brought to room temperature

Prehead oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with cupcake papers. Set aside. Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop, then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sour cream. Add beer and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Stir together the cocoa powder, sugar, flours, baking soda, and cinnamon into a separate bowl.



Add about a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and using a hand mixer, blend well. Add the rest of th flour mixture, a third at a time, mixing well after each addition.

When all ingredients are blended, add the melted butter then continue mixing until well combined.

Pour batter into the cupcake papers, filling each about 3/4s full.

Bake on center rack of the oven for approximately 25 minutes.

When a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, remove the pan from the oven to a wire rack. Let cool for ten minutes then remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.



Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese (room temperature)
1 C confectioners sugar
3 T. Bailey’s Irish cream

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Spread over cupcakes after they are cooled a bit.