Guiness Extra-Stout Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting
(A tip-of-the-hat to St. Pat's Day.)
Oh, yes, these.
Audra's recipe, with a few of my own small touches. I added a coffee simple syrup brushing, and then changed out the crumbs in Audra's topping to shaved dark chocolate and crushed dark chocolate espresso beans. They give it a nice, subtle kick.
(Update! Here is Smitten Kitten's recipe, which Audra adapted. Love the idea of the whiskey ganache!)
Follow the link to Audra's recipe, above. Include a bar of good, dark chocolate and an 1/8 (maybe even less) of a cup of crushed, dark chocolate-covered espresso beans to the ingredients. If, like me, you live in a rural area, it can be hard to find the espresso beans. I found these at a natural living store. No Trader Joe's up this way!
My small addition: Heat 1/4 c strong coffee with 1/4 c sugar until it boils and the sugar dissolves. Then, you can take it off the heat, or continue heating a bit longer for a stronger coffee flavor. Let the simple sugar cool.
After the cupcakes have cooled, poke holes in the tops, brush on the coffee simple sugar, give it a few minutes to soak in, then continue frosting. Sprinkle tops with shaved dark chocolate and some crushed, dark chocolate-covered espresso beans. When sprinkling the chocolate shavings, they melt quickly in contact with your fingers, so you might want to use a spoon to shake them onto the cupcake. I didn't, because I'm lazy.
Mmmmmmm . . . the cupcake with a hint of coffee and stout, the Bailey's cream cheese frosting with some chocolate and espresso. I ate mine with a cup of tea using Irish china, set on top of my grandmother's Irish lace. Cliche, but oh so St. Paddy's Day.
