Irish Car Bomb Cupcake Recipe

Irish Car Bomb Cupcake and Kentucky Bourbon Balls. I will work on getting the pictures better as soon as I figure out how to crop them and not end up with a huge black space around them.

My neighbors were having a party this weekend with live music and about 50 people. I thought it would be a great time to see what people thought of my Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes and Kentucky Bourbon Balls. If you haven't heard of these cupcakes, you are not alone, I had not either. While playing around on the internet one day I saw a picture with the name. When I looked it up there were tons of posts with drinks and cupcakes. Baily's Irish Cream is one of my favorite flavors but I wasn't sure about the rest until it was all put together. These are composed of, a Guinness chocolate cupcake, filled with a chocolate Irish whiskey ganache, and topped with an Irish cream frosting. There are many sites to choose from when looking for this recipe. I choose to stick with my chocolate cupcake recipe, it is the best one I have ever used and is extremely versatile when introducing new combinations to it. The alcohol really enhanced the flavor of the cupcake without taking it over. This is definitely a recipe I would recommend.

 Makes about 15 cupcakes
 Cupcake Prep Time: about 10 min Cook Time: 18-22 min  

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cup All-purpose flour
1/4 Cup Cocoa powder
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Guinness
1 tsp Vinegar
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste or extract
6 TBS Extra Virgin olive oil
 Directions:
1) Preheat oven 350 degrees
2) In a mixing bowl sift together Flour, Cocoa Powder, Sugar, Baking Soda, and Salt. You can use a whisk to make sure it is well mixed.
3) In a separate container mix together Guinness, Vinegar, Vanilla, and Olive oil
4) Pour your liquids into the dry mix and combine. Do not over stir, the batter will look kinda of watery and lumpy.
5) I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and pour the batter into my cupcake tray. It should fill your cupcake cups just over 1/2 full. These will have a perfect cupcake dome top if you don't over fill them.
 6) Cook 18-22 min. I start checking min at 18 min and then every 2 min after. If you are checking with a toothpick take out of the oven as soon as it comes out clean. Let cool in the tray for a couple of minutes then place on a rack for cooling.
When I first started making this recipe I always thought the cupcakes were not done when I was taking them out to cool. They feel really soft and it is okay, they are just a soft fluffy rich cupcake. They do hold up just fine though and I have never had the tops fall or sink on me.  
Ganache Filling
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons Irish whiskey ( I added an extra 2tsps to this because the person testing for me could not taste the alcohol. It did make it more of a mouse like texture though.)
 Directions:
Pour your Chocolate chips into heat proof container. Heat the cream just until it starts to boil and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then whisk or stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and whisk until combined. Let it cool and thicken up enough to pipe, 5-10 min. Using a paring knife or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. Go most of the way down the cupcake but do not cut through the bottom. Pipe the ganache into the holes and then place the cupcake top back on. I trim the cake from the bottom of the piece I cut out and then replace the top before frosting.  
Irish Cream Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
5 - 6 tablespoons Irish Cream pinch of salt
 Directions:
Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar beating until combined. Slowly add the Bailey's until you reach your desired consistency. I used all 6 Tablespoons of Bailey's for this but I like the frosting just thick enough to hold it's shape. If you want it thicker then you can add more confectioner's sugar or use less Irish Cream.

     

My Perfect Chocolate Cupcake

    Being short in stature and on counter space has one big disadvantage in my house and that involves getting my mixer out. This two ton marvel has to sit on top of my cabinets when not in use and getting it down at my height, requires a level of grace and balance I sorely lack. My routine for getting it down is to stand on a stepping stool using my finger tips to wiggle it close close enough to grasp. It never fails that a good portion of the machine is tilted toward my head before I can get a hold if it firmly with both hands. Which brings me to one of the reasons my Chocolate Cupcake recipe is perfect for me. No mixer needed. Another bonus, no waiting on ingredients to reach room temperature. How great is that?

   Okay, the recipe started out as a Wacky Cake. These Cakes do not have all the normal ingredients you generally think about when making cakes or cupcakes. There isn't any dairy or eggs to worry about. During World War II eggs and milk were scarce so, it is believed that the rationing of these ingredients resulted in Wacky Cake. It is uncertain who or where exactly the cake originated but Beatrice Fe O'Hearn is thought to be the first person to create the recipe. Beatrice passed it down through her family and friends starting in 1930s. Ingredients seem to be pretty standard they include; flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, oil, vinegar and vanilla.

   This recipe does call for olive oil. You can substitute the olive oil with vegetable oil but, I wouldn't. Olive oil accents the chocolate really well and helps to bring a nice rich flavor to the cupcake. I have seen recipes that use strongly brewed coffee but generally, I make mine kind of weak. When I started making these the biggest surprise for me was, how perfectly they domed on top. They have never sunk or fallen when I take them out but, be sure not to over fill your cups. Over filling has caused my cupcakes to rise over the top of my cups and then flatten out. I fill my cups just over half full. The batter will be kind of lumpy/soupy and that is how it is suppose to be.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes Approx.: 15
Prep time: 5-10min
Bake time: 18-22min

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cup All-purpose flour
1/4 Cup Cocoa powder
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 brewed or instant coffee (let cool)
1 tsp Vinegar
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste or extract
6 TBS Extra Virgin olive oil
 Directions:
1) Preheat oven 350 degrees
2) In a mixing bowl sift together Flour, Cocoa Powder, Sugar, Baking Soda, and Salt. You can use a whisk to make sure it is well mixed.
3) In a separate container mix together coffee, Vinegar, Vanilla, and Olive oil
4) Pour your liquids into the dry mix and combine. Do not over stir, the batter will look kinda of watery and lumpy.
5) Pour the batter into cupcake tray. It should fill your cupcake cups just over 1/2 full.
6) Cook 18-22 min. I start checking min at 18 min and then every 2 min after. If you are checking with a toothpick take out of the oven as soon as it comes out clean. Let cool in the tray for a couple of minutes then take out and place on a rack.
When I first started making this recipe I always thought the cupcakes were not done when I was taking them out to cool. They feel really soft and it is okay, they are just a soft fluffy rich cupcake. With Chocolate being the main flavor of these cupcakes I recommend going with a quality cocoa powder you really like.  

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients
2 Sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 1/2 Cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp
1-2 tbs Heavy whipping cream or Milk

Directions
Even with the butter at room temperature, I cut it into smaller chunks before putting in the mixer. Whip your butter until it becomes fluffy looking.
Add Vanilla
Add sugar slowly in batches. Turn off your mixer as you add or if you have a really slow stirring option that may work. Make sure it is combined before adding more.
When the sugar is mixed in you can add the Cream or Milk if you want to make the frosting softer or you can add a little more sugar if you like it thicker.

Decorations
To get the orange color around the yellow edges I took a chopstick and added some orange coloring gel to it, then drew 3 straight lines from the tip of my bag to the bottom. The color starts to fade after about 4 cupcakes and I repeated the process. The cups used did not give me room to put petals on my sunflowers but they still turned out okay. In the middle is an Oreo Cookie which made quite a few kids and adults happy.For the Oreo just use a little bit of frosting to anchor it in place then icing around it. There are some great videos on you tube if you want to try doing petals.