Guinness Cupcakes


Appropriately, this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club assignment is Stout Cupcakes - 
A nod to the Irish!


The secret ingredient, of course, is Guinness Beer!

Two years ago, I bought a six-pack of Guinness for our St. Patrick's Day feast of Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage.  Unfortunately, the rest of the lonely five bottles sat in the fridge for the next year and a half until we moved and some kind friends were willing to take them off our hands.  This year I vow to find more Guinness recipes!


Here's the other surprise ingredient:  Orange!  I doubled the zest and added the juice which I thought added a bright note and balanced out the bitterness of the Guinness and the molasses.


Now, normally I'm a throw-all-the-cupcake-ingredients-in-a-bowl-and-mix kinda gal, but this recipe is a good exception. It's not the beer - it's the molasses. Have you ever tried mixing  molasses into dry ingredients? It doesn't work very well. Don't ask me how I know this.


To avoid this sticky situation, mix all the wet ingredients with a hand mixer and then gradually add the whisked flour mixture into it.


The result is a deliciously thick batter.


And perfectly baked, dark, moist spice cupcakes.


Now, don't be scared. I know that "beer frosting" may not sound that appealing, but when you add two cups of powdered sugar to just about anything, it tastes pretty good.


I used the dipping technique for these cupcakes.  I like the little drippies.

Please excuse the chipped bubblegum pink fingernail. I hosted a sleepover last weekend for ten fourth graders. There was nail polish involved.  Lots of it.


This Irish twist on the Spice Cake would be great any time of year!



Guinness Cupcakes
Inspired by Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book

Dry Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups canola oil
1 1/4 cups unsulfured molasses
1 cup brown sugar
2 large whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 bottle of Guinness (reserve 1/4 cup), poured and settled


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Whisk together dry ingredients.

With an electric mixer, beat together wet ingredients until smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among 28 muffin tins.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

To finish, place cupcakes on a wire rack and spoon glaze over the top.  Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed.


Guinness Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup reserved Guinness.

Whisk together ingredients until combined.




Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow! Beautiful and wonderful looking cupcakes! I can't wait to try them out; the orange zest really seems like a great idea!

I looks like we bake alike, feel free to check out my blog @ www.typeabaker.com

Keep on baking!!
Robin
March 21, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Miz Helen said…
What awesome cupcakes, I can almost taste them. Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
March 24, 2013 at 12:29 PM
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