Drop of Disney

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today I’m wearing green and celebrating with these spiked shamrock cupcakes! Given our Irish heritage, my family has always celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. When we lived in Chicago, we’d go to the parade and watch as the City dyed the river green. A lot of the large celebrations around the country have been cancelled this year, but these fun cupcakes are a great way to celebrate at home! While they’re some of my favorite cupcakes, they are definitely for adults as they contain alcohol. These chocolate Guinness cupcakes are filled with a chocolate-Baileys ganache and topped with Baileys frosting, shamrock sprinkles, and a chocolate Mickey!

For my cupcakes, I used these Shamrock cupcake liners that I found at Michael’s. I loved the bright green color and was happy to discover that they keep their color after being baked and didn’t show any grease spots.

To start, prep your muffin pan and preheat the oven. Combine the dry ingredients (except the cocoa) in a bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and the Guinness until the butter has melted. Then add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Take the mixture off the heat and let cool slightly while you beat the egg and sour cream together in a large bowl. Once they’re combined, mix in the butter mixture and then the flour mixture. Divide among the prepared muffin pan filling about 2/3 – 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the chocolate Mickeys and the Baileys ganache. To make the make the Mickeys, melt 1/4 cup of cocoa candy melts in a disposable piping bag. I used Wilton light cocoa candy melts and these disposable piping bags. You can also melt the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl and then transfer to a piping bag, but it’s easier to melt them in the piping bag since you’ll need to use one later.

Pipe the melted chocolate onto a parchment or wax paper covered baking sheet in the shape of Mickey heads. Transfer to the refrigerator to set completely while you make the ganache.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate pieces into a heat-safe bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it’s just about to boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate pieces and let sit for a minute. Stir gently until smooth. Add the butter and Baileys and stir until combined. Transfer to a piping bag and set aside until ready to fill.

The last bit of prep work before decorating is making the frosting. To make the frosting, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add the Bailey’s and beat on medium high until fluffy. Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip. I used a Wilton 1M tip.

Now, you’ll want to cut a hole in the center of the cupcakes so that you can fill them with ganache. An easy way to do this is to use an apple corer.

Once all of the cupcakes have holes, pipe the ganache into the centers. Then, pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. To decorate them, I added a some large gold sprinkles and these adorable shamrock sprinkles from Wilton. Add a chocolate Mickey and your spiked shamrock cupcakes are complete!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Enjoy!

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Spiked Shamrock Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Celebrate with these spiked shamrock cupcakes! These chocolate Guinness cupcakes are filled with a chocolate Baileys ganache and topped with Bailey’s frosting, shamrock sprinkles and a chocolate Mickey!

Course Dessert

Keyword Bailey’s Irish Cream, Guinness Chocolate Cake, St. Patrick’s Day

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

• ½ cup Guinness Stout
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• ⅓ cup sour cream

Baileys Ganache

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur

Baileys Frosting

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur

Decorations

• ¼ cup light cocoa candy melts
• gold sprinkles
• shamrock sprinkles

Equipment

• 3 piping bags
• 1 large star piping tip
• shamrock cupcake liners

Instructions

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the stout and butter over medium heat until melted. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, beat the egg and sour cream until combined. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat until combined.
5. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
6. Divide batter into prepared muffin pan, filling about ⅔ – ¾ full.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Baileys Ganache

1. Place the chocolate pieces in a heatsafe bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream until it’s just about to boil.
3. Pour cream over the chocolate pieces and let sit for 1-2 minutes.
4. Stir gently until smooth.
5. Add the butter and the Baileys and stir until well incorporated.
6. Let cool until thick and transfer to a piping bag.

Baileys Frosting

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the sugar and beat on low until incorporated.
3. Mix in the Baileys and beat on medium-high until fluffy.
4. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.

Chocolate Mickey Heads

1. Place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on a baking sheet.
2. Place the chocolate candy melts in a disposable piping bag.
3. Melt in the microwave, agitating the bag every 30 seconds.
4. Pipe Mickey shaped heads onto the parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet.
5. Place in the refrigerator to set, about 5-10 minutes.

Assembly

1. Cut out the centers of the cupcakes using an apple corer.
2. Pipe the Bailey’s ganache into the center of each cupcake.
3. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the tops of each cupcake.
4. Sprinkle with gold sprinkles. Add a few shamrock sprinkles and a chocolate Mickey head.