Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting

Guinness cupcakes are the perfect cupcakes if you don't like deserts that are overly sweet. The cupcakes are nice and moist, and chocolately without being cloyingly sugary. The frosting is probably my new favorite frosting - irish cream goes really well as a frosting flavor. It's similar to vanilla but with slightly more complex flavor.

Ingredients
For the cupcakes
1 (12-ounce) bottle Guinness stout
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for garnish
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
A pinch of salt

For the frosting
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3-4 cups of powdered sugar (as needed)
3-4 tablespoons of Irish Cream (Baileys) and/or milk (as needed)
A pinch of salt
Yields: around 40 cupcakes (a lot!)

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the Guinness, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream. Feel free to sip on a spare Guinness.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet Guinness mixture.

4.  Line and grease your muffin tin and divide the batter among the muffin tins. I lay aluminum foil over my tin, then poke holes over the cups and then insert my liners, then spray. This keeps any batter that spills from baking onto my muffin tin.

I also like the use a ladle to distribute my mixture. Keeps things from getting too messy.

5.  Bake 25 minutes, until risen and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out of the tins.

While your cupcakes are cooling, start on the frosting.

Cream your softened butter and irish cream, and gradually add the powdered sugar. I used about 3.5 cups, plus a splash or two of skim milk, to get the consistency I liked. I also recommend a pinch of salt - a little salt helps tone down the toothache sweetness of the frosting.

You should have enough frosting to cover all of your cupcakes generously - no need to skimp! If you want to mail them to a cute redheaded boy, I recommend the shoebox method. Refrigerate overnight so the frosting doesn't stick to everything, then mail.