Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

cupcake

So here we are, a little under two years since the start of my blog and I have finally hit my 100th post! That means I have sat down here in front of a blank page one hundred times, and shared almost one hundred recipes. I have said it before, but it has been a wonderful journey so far and it is only getting better. My hunger to learn more never seems to be quite sated, and I love sharing these little adventures. I would like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to my readers who stop in and say hello, your comments and feedback make my day!

It was somewhat unintentional, but it seems fitting that my 100th post is about cupcakes because they seem to be synonymous with celebrations around here. The Chocolate and Guinness Cake recipe from Nigella Lawson’s book ‘Feast’ intrigued me – the combination of beer and chocolate sounded particularly interesting. I wanted to try the recipe in cupcake form, and what better opportunity to try it than St Pat’s Day!

The cupcakes are so wonderfully moist at room temperature, thanks to the addition of sour cream, but if you put them in the fridge they take on a fudgy texture, almost like a brownie. The Guinness taste is just right, not too strong but definitely giving the cake an interesting depth. Teamed with cream cheese icing (my favourite) this is a great recipe. I would recommend only filling the cupcake cases half full instead of the usual three-quarters, because I found that they rose quite a bit and some overflowed. Or, you could of course bake a full size cake!

cupcake (76)

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
Adapted from Nigella Lawson Feast
Makes 18 cupcakes

• 1 cup Guinness Stout
• 110g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups caster sugar
• ¾ cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Cream Cheese Icing
• 250g cream cheese
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Line a cupcake tray with paper liners.
2. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter and heat until melted. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar.
3. In a small bowl, beat sour cream, with eggs and vanilla and pour into the Guinness mixture. Sift in the flour and baking soda and whisk to combine.
4. Divide cake batter between cupcake liners, making sure to fill each only half full. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
5. To make the icing, place cream cheese and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add cream and vanilla and beat until you have a spreadable consistency. Frost the top of the cupcakes.

16 Comments on “Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes”

  1. Congratulations on your 100th post Lisa! Seems like yesterday that I was drooling over your first number of posts (well I still do)!

    Keep the gorgeous recipes and beautiful photos coming- here’s to a 100 more 🙂

  2. Congrats to you! 100! I don’t even know what I’m up to.
    I have had this recipe in my ‘to-bake’ pile for ages now. And her eyou go and make cupcakes with them. Wonderful!

  3. That cake looks so lovely and rich! Too bad I didn’t have time to make something in honour of St. Pat’s Day, but it did remind me that I’ve been meaning to make a honey and stout tart that I’ve got a recipe for!

  4. Karen, thank you so much! I definitely hope there will be 100 more 🙂

    Helen, thanks! Yes you will have to try them, it is a great little recipe, and very easy to put together.

    FFichiban, haha let’s celebrate with cupcakes! thank you!

    Y, the stout and honey tart sounds very interesting… hope you get around to it at some point! The cake is indeed lovely and rich, but my favourite bit is the cream cheese icing, as always.

    Dawn, 100 posts seems like a lot but it took me a long time to get here haha. Slow and steady, or something. You should definitely try this recipe, it’s a good one.

    Hillary, wow, they look fantastic! I should have added some Baileys to the cream cheese icing!!

    Jennifer, cupcakes seem just perfect for any occasion don’t you think 🙂 thanks for stopping by!

  5. big congrats on hitting 100. that’s a decent amount of effort right there 🙂

    and your cupcakes look incredibly moist. lovely!

  6. Congratulations. 100 posts is a great accomplishment! And that Nigella recipe is a great way to celebrate. I can taste it right now. Plus your cupcakes are beautiful! I want a bite.

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