These Guinness Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting(often referred to as Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes) are made with Guinness cake, a whiskey chocolate ganache and Irish Cream buttercream frosting. They are simply divine!

Guinness cupcakes with Irish cream frosting and green sprinkles.

If you’ve never tried a Guinness cake, you really should get on that. For some reason, the cake just turns out so fluffy and moist. It’s my favorite type of cake to make. Add to it a whiskey ganache and Irish Cream frosting and you have the perfect Irish cupcake.

This recipe is inspired by the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake recipe by Brown Eyed Baker. The name is a bit outdated – referring to the popular bar shot. They’ve changed it and so have we. The new name truly reflects what they are.

Helpful Tips

These are pretty time intensive cupcakes but they are worth it. My best tip is to take it in parts. Finish one part before going on to the next, so you don’t have a ton going on at one time. Everything has to cool after making it anyways.
Be sure to get the butter and eggs out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes to an hour before you start. It needs to be room temperature.
My ganache sometimes turns out too liquidy. If this happens to you, you can thicken it with more chocolate or with a little bit of powdered sugar.
If you don’t want to put the ganache in the centers, you can skip that whole step, or you can spread the ganache on the top of the cupcakes before you frost them. The ganache center is my favorite part.
Frost the cupcakes however you like. I sometimes just make whatever designs I want. They don’t have to be consistent.
Add sprinkles or decorations if you’re making these for St. Patrick’s Day.

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Guinness Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting

These cupcakes (often referred to as Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes) are made with Guinness cake, a whiskey chocolate ganache and Irish Cream buttercream frosting. They are simply divine!

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Prep Time 45

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 20

Course Appetizers

Cuisine Dessert

Servings Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 125g
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 38g
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 4g
2/3 cup Guinness stout 5 oz
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature, 113g
1 cup granulated sugar 200g
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream 120g

For the ganache:

5 ounces chocolate finely chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream 60ml
1 teaspoon Irish whiskey like Jameson’s

For the frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, 113g
2 cups powdered sugar 240g
3 tablespoons Irish Cream Bailey’s or make your own, 37ml
2 tablespoons green sprinkles optional, 21g

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°F(175°C). Fill a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set it aside.
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.
In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, while mixing, then add sour cream. Beat until well blended.
While still mixing, pour in half the dry ingredients then half the stout, then vanilla extract, then remaining dry ingredients, then remaining stout. Mix just until combined, do not over blend.
Fill the cupcake liners with the batter to 3/4 full. Bake for 17-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.
Once the cupcakes are cool, use a knife or apple corer to remove a small chunk of cake from the center.

For the Ganache:

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
In a saucepan, heat the whipping cream until steaming, but not bubbling (do not boil).
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 10 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until the chocolate chips are melted and the ganache is smooth. Cool completely.
If the ganache is very thin, you can thicken it by adding a tablespoon or two of powdered sugar (only if necessary).
Fill the centers of the cupcakes with ganache either by spooning it in or using a piping bag.

For the frosting:

In a mixing bowl, whip the butter until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Gradually add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated.
Pour in the Irish Cream and whip for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Pipe the frosting onto cupcakes with a piping bag and large decorator tip.
Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.