Cupcake 13 - Guinness Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

A 2-fer this week. I couldn't ignore St. Patrick's day, the Potato Famine did not lend itself to cupcakes, so I resorted to liquor.... for a theme, not so much for me.

Guinness Cupcakes, good all around. I've made Guinness brownies before, the beer adds a nice depth of flavor and moistness to the chocolate. (I've also attempted Guinness ice-cream with much less success. Frozen beer, milk and eggs did not do it for me.) Several things to know, Guinness draught comes in an 11.2 ounce bottle and the recipe calls for 12 ounces. It seemed a shame to waste good beer, but I was baking early Sunday morning and thought the Husband might be concerned if I was imbibing before 9 am. The batter is much thinner than most, don't be concerned. The mocha buttercream worked well with Guinness 9 out of 10.

Cupcakes
1 stick unsalted butter
12 oz Guinness beer
1/2 t vanilla
2 C AP flour
2 C sugar
3/4 c unsweetened coca powder (I used Dutch Process)
1 t salt
1 1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c sour cream
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Line two cupcake pans with liners for 24 cupcakes (this actually made 30 cupcakes)

In medium saucepan combine butter, Guinness and vanilla, stirring constantly until melted. Pour mixture into bowl of stand mixture, cool for at least 10 minutes.

In a second bowl combine flour, sugar, coca, salt and baking soda. Whisk until well combined, set aside. Gradually add flour mixture to Guinness mixture in 3 installments, mixing well and scrapping sides of bowl each time. Add sour cream, mix well. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Fill cupcake cups 3/4 full. Bake 22-35 minutes (mine took 20 minutes.) Cool in pan for 5 minutes and complete cooling on rack.

Frosting

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 C powdered sugar, sifted
4 T ground espresso powder, dissolved in 2 T hot water
pinch of salt

In bowl of standing mixture, whip butter until light and fluffy. Add dissolved espresso powder, mix well. In one cup increments add powdered sugar, mixing well and scrapping down sides of bowl. Once all the powdered sugar is added, whip frosting on high for 3 -4 minutes until light and creamy. I had almost a cup frosting left over, but I'm not "heavy-handed" when I pipe.