Guiness & Baileys.

I've been meaning to post about St. Patrick's Day, and somehow I kept forgetting.

I don't know how because this is one of my favorite holidays.

Starting in college, my friends and I just went all out--party all day, make food, 

fun drinks and get all dressed up! Pittsburgh is one of THE best places to be

for St. Patty's Day. Our parade is awesome--I think it's the 2nd biggest in the nation

and the surrounding neighborhoods start the festivities as early as 7 am.

This year I wanted to make something different for the party I was going to. 

Thanks to Pinterest, I found an awesome recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes!

For those who don't know, an Irish Car Bomb is a shot--you pour some Guiness in a glass,

then drop in a shot glass filled with Baileys and Irish whiskey--then chug as fast as you can!

While those are great and all, I thought these cupcakes would be just as amazing.

They were actually pretty strong--and took some time to make (mainly because you have 

to start from scratch--so no box mix), but totally worth it!

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Icing:

2 cups unsalted butter

5 cups powdered sugar

6 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream (I added a bit more!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring the Guiness and butter to simmer in a sauce pan. 

When it begins to bubble, add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. 

With a mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream in with the mixture. 

 Once it starts to come together, add the Guiness-chocolate mixture 

(I let mine cool off a bit). 

Line your cupcake tray with liners, and separate the batter into each. 

I filled mine pretty close to the top and it still made about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes--I had to keep one tray in a little longer, 

so make sure you stick a toothpick in the middle of a few to see if it comes out clean.

While they're cooking, whisk the butter until smooth--this won't work well

unless the butter is at room temperature. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and Bailey's.

Be sure to set the mixer at low or the Bailey's could splash out at you!

Ice the cupcakes however you wish! I kept it simple with some green sprinkles. 

I realied I had a lot of frosting, so for a few of the cupcakes, I cut a hole in the center

and filled the inside with frosting as well! 

They were so delicious. The batter and icing both tasted a little strong when you tried 

them separate, but together it was perfect!