Every year our friends have an annual St. Patrick's Day crawfish boil. I'm sure I've said it before, but it is truly one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to it so much, that if for some moronic reason I ever moved away from New Orleans, I think I'd make a point to fly in for this party every year. We're a partyin group and as much as I LOVE Halloween, Mardi Gras, and New Year's...the crawfish boil is something quite special.

I've had these Irish Car Bomb cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen on my list of things to make for what seems like ages, and what better excuse to make them than St. Patrick's Day? I swapped out the butter/powdered sugar frosting for a swiss buttercream and all of my little tasters were loving the creamy richness. My favorite part was by far the Jameson chocolate ganache filling and it really makes me want to explore more with filled cupcakes.

I was also super psyched about the Irish Cream Buttercream because this past Christmas I found a great recipe to make your own Irish Cream Liquor from The Hungry Mouse. Trust me not only does it make an awesome Christmas present for your boss, it is well worth the effort! It has such a rich creamy flavor and truly puts Bailey's to shame. Even though the frosting only uses a few spoons, I made a whole batch and brought the rest to the party. We served it up as shots on its own or in Duck Farts (1/4 Irish cream, 1/4 Kahlua and 1/2 Crown) and it was a big hit. Enjoy the recipe!

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream to blend. Add in the Guinness-chocolate mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture on slow speed until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. 
4. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

 Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional, but really... why not?)

Instructions

1. Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. 
2. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.
3. To fill the cupcakes, let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. I used a bismarck decorating tip (Wilton 230) to pipe the ganache into the cooled cupcake. If you don't have one, Deb at Smitten Kitchen cut out a small portion of the cupcake and filled it with a regular round tip.

Irish Cream Swiss Buttercream Frosting

5 egg whites
1 cup plus two tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
a couple tablespoons of Irish cream liquor

Instructions

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips.
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Add the Irish cream a little at a time to suit your taste. (I was pretty generous with it!) Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. 

• Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
• To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. Avoid adding too much food color too soon, as the hue will intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

Since I decided to make the Irish cream as well, this was a bit labor intensive for all of the different pieces and parts, but overall pretty worth it. And even though there is alcohol in each part, it is just enough to give it a little flavor without really tasting like alcohol--the kids ate them right up and enjoyed every second of it...and so did we! ;)

~Happy Baking!