Friday, April 1, 2011

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes...yum

So someone on facebook post-St. Patty's day posted a list of food that was now settled in their stomachs and it all sounded wonderful! One of the items stood out among the rest. I think mostly because I was forced to do one on my birthday and I am not a fan of the drink itself. Anyways that's besides the point. So on my birthday we were at an Irish Bar in Portland, ME called Bull Feeny's, actually one of my favorites in the Old Port, Irish music and the whole 9 yards. I am not a fan of Guinness though and that of course is the staple Irish beer! So on my birthday I was forced to do an Irish Car Bomb shot and just as I remembered it, it was gross. I don't like stout, but what I do like is the taste of dark chocolate and I figured that a dark roasted malt that was in a stout would pair nicely with a dark chocolate. SO I read the post on Facebook and thought, alright I could make these, so I did. My first batch came out okay, nice the cake was a little dense, but the ganache was wonderful and the frosting was of course the best part (really you can't go wrong with buttercream.) So since Orion's birthday came soon after mine AND St. Patty's day I thought I will make them for him, especially since I already made him Meat Cup Cakes for his 29th b-day (see earlier post) and of course he will eat nearly everything I cook, and love it. So I made them again. I used the same recipe which is posted here I just used super dark chocolate and some single malt scotch in the ganache. So here is the progression of them from cake to finish. Of course these cupcakes are fat-free, calorie free, gluten free, and dairy free, they won't make you gain any weight and you can eat all you want for the rest of your life. Really that is not true, but I wish it was. If you do think about what are actually in these cupcakes it is terrible. I know all the ingredients and I selected as best I could. The cake has these simple ingredients in it: Flour, sugar, baking soda, eggs, sour cream, butter, cocoa powder (+ espresso powder to make it pop.) The ganache is Dark Chocolate, butter, cream, and a tad bit of scotch. The frosting is butter, powdered sugar, and irish cream. There isn't really anything crazy in these cupcakes. I am not defending them, they aren't health food by any means, but they are homemade with an extra special ingredient: Love.