From the first time I heard about these a few months ago, I’ve wanted one. At first, my wife said she would make a batch. That didn’t happen. Then my sister said she’d make them if I bought the alcohol. I never got around to buying her the alcohol, the ended up forgetting she said she’d make them. So when I started my adventures in baking a couple of weeks ago, I vowed that I’d do these. I knew I was taking on something major, but I figured I’d be up to it.
The recipe was taken from the Smitten Kitchen blog, which I’ll probably end up getting a lot more recipes from. Click here to be taken to the recipe.
For the stout, I decided to go with Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout rather than Guinness. I like it better, and I already had some on hand. I got a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey, ‘cause it was pretty inexpensive. I also went with Ryan’s Irish Cream instead of Bailey’s, also for economic reasons.
I couldn’t find ANY cookie cutters at my local Kroger Market Place, let alone a 1-inch round one. I attempted to use the wide end of a baster for a few, but it didn’t go deep enough before hitting the lip and smooshing the cupcake. I used a knife after that, but it wasn’t pretty.
While lengthy (the whole shebang took about 2 ½ hours from start to finish), this was not a difficult project. My biggest problem was finding enough big bowls in which to mix stuff. It was extremely messy, though. Or maybe that was just me. I had powdered sugar and flour all over the place. The cord to the mixer ended up spilling a bit of the cream onto the counter, and my phone sat in it for who knows how long (didn’t bother it, though). I’m pretty messy with most things I cook, though, so it’s not like I’ve never had a massive clean-up following a cooking session.
Seventeen minutes wasn’t quite enough for the cupcakes, but I may have put too much batter in the cups. I ended up having to leave them in the oven for closer to 25 minutes.
If I continue to do stuff like this, I might invest in a piping bag for icing. These bad boys are not pretty, but damn it if they weren’t delicious. I realized, though, that I made all these cupcakes and a houseful of kids who couldn’t eat them because of the alcohol (it only bakes out of the cupcake, not the filling or the icing). So I’m treating some of my coworkers, but not all because I don’t have enough. So shhhhhhh.
