Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I love to make themed cupcakes for special events and holidays.  This weekend brings the celebration of every collage-aged person's favorite holiday: St. Patrick's Day.  Although St. Patrick's Day was originally started as a day to celebrate the life of Ireland's most sacred saint, St. Patrick, it has turned more into an excuse for people of (almost) all ages to dress in head-to-toe green and drink way more than they should.  So, what better way to celebrate the life of St. Patrick than with a drunken cupcake.  Why not combine deliciousness with boose?  Since Irish Car Bombs (a shot of Bailey's and Jameson dropped into a glass of Guinness) are one of the most popular St. Patty's Day drinks, I decided to turn it into a cupcake.  I like to think this cupcake tastes better than the actual drink itself.  The cupcakes itself is Guinness flavored, stuffed with a soft, Jameson genache, and topped with a Bailey's buttercream icing.

Please note: most of the alcohol cooks out of the cupcake.  However, the frosting has a good amount of Bailey's in it.  It will not get you drunk, but I would keep away from small children and pregnant woman just in case.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Guinness Cupcakes
1 Box of Chocolate Cake Mix
1 cup of Guinness
3 eggs
1/4 cup of water (or more Guinness)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil

Genache
2 cups of bittersweet or dark chocolate (use good quality chocolate, not bakers chocolate)
2 cups of cream
2 tsp. of Jameson

Bailey's Buttercream Icing
3 sticks of unsalted, room temperature butter
3 3/4 cups of confectioner's sugar
4 1/2 TBSP of Bailey's Irish Cream

Directions:

Guinness Cupcakes- Preheat your oven to 350°.  Line about 24 cupcake liners into a cupcake tray (I only got 19 out of mine). Using a stand mixer, mix together the cake mix, water, oil, and Guinness on low for about 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides, as needed.  Then, add in your eggs and mix together on medium for about 2 minutes or until batter is smooth and creamy.  Fill  the cupcake liners about 2/3s of the way full.  Bake for about 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out smooth.  Let cool for at least an hour and core out the center for the genache.

Genache:

In a small pot, bring your cream to a slight boil.  Pour the cream over top of the chocolate and let sit for about a minute.  Whisk together until the chocolate melts completely into the cream and the genache turns to a smooth, milk chocolate color.  Add in your Jameson and continue to whisk together. The Jameson should add a nice shine to your mixture.  Let cool for a couple of minutes.  Using a spoon or small ladle, add your genache to the center of the cupcake.  Put in the fridge and allow genache to cool for 30-40 minutes.

Bailey's Buttercream Icing:

Using the whisking paddle of your stand mixer, cream the room temperature butter for about 4-5 minutes on medium-high, scraping down the sides when necessary.  It should become light and airy.  Then, slowly add in your confectioner's sugar, continuing to mix on medium high.  After the mixture becomes light and fluffy, add in your Bailey's Irish Cream.  Top your cupcakes with the buttercream however you like and enjoy!

Here is a picture with the gooey, genache-filled center 

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