Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat the Guinness and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter melts, stirring to combine. Stir in cocoa powder until smooth then remove from heat and set aside.

Next, in a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and Greek yogurt. Now mix together the chocolate and Guinness mixture with the egg and Greek yogurt mixture. Then add this chocolate mixture into the flour mixture, stirring to combine.

Use cupcake liners or spray your 12-count muffin pan with a little non-stick cooking spray. Fill the pan with cupcake batter about 2/3 of the way full.

Place muffins into the preheated oven and bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes (a few minutes longer if using a large muffin pan), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool before filling.

While the muffins bake, make the ganache filling: Heat heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it simmers. Stir in chocolate and stir until smooth. Mix in butter and whiskey (if using). Set the mixture into the fridge for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes), until it thickens up a bit.

This is the tricky part… To scoop out the center of each cupcake, I used an apple corer. A thin knife might work if you don’t have an apple corer. Gently scoop out the center of each cupcake, but be careful not to poke through the bottom! If you don’t have a fancy icing bag, simply fill a sandwich bag with the ganache and snip off the corner. Now squeeze the bag and fill the cupcakes with the ganache.

To make the icing, whip room temperature butter in your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form. Add in Baileys and whip a couple more minutes. Add a little more sugar if needed, until the icing is fluffy. Then ice your cupcakes.

*I make the sponge the night before, and the next day I make the ganache and Baileys frosting and assemble the cupcakes.