In honor of the holiday yesterday, I ma
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rGD7_uQMeeFhT5pwlXaRisLacm8iA1-oSZ0VS4oUzLywc9WkmOEvQJsLscCGAKiIdMoztpDH1vTGjP5z0xNrpm8fFXhUf8rAtYLRHcM8hnPbf7oE9wwTSDQnqCpWEvCb7Ib3UUu_cmU/s320/Blog+photos+Mar+09+053.jpg)
de Irish-themed cupcakes. They feature
Guinness stout in the batter,
Baileys Irish Cream in the buttercream frosting, and a filling of chocolate ganache. (Ganache is basically a chocolate truffle: a mixture of chocolate, cream, and a bit of butter.) It was my first time making a filled cupcake, and it went very well. First, I cut out a "plug" from each cupcake using my smallest
Ateco circular cutter. The plug clung nicely to the interior of the metal cylinder, easily pulling out when I withdrew the cutter.
Then I piped the still-soft ganache into the center of each cupcake:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggzHtVC1nOkCdpEFGoj3l51RRLFcV6m5__E1KR4dNfQeowsBgb6Mg7EIy_oHz4MOEixIR24ayhnUzO4y_vE10AUdCTIpxlMYXvwdgOKRt0y-5kfHbXILmlnQd-FoiwjMRPoEPys1x65mM/s320/Blog+photos+Mar+09+069.jpg)
I had extra ganache after all the cakes were filled, so I piped out bite-sized bits of ganache into candy papers to make "naked" truffles. (To make them proper truffles, first warm them up to room temperature and then roll them in a coating--like cocoa powder or finely ground nuts.)
I frosted the cupcakes using a star-shaped pastry tip and lightly sprinkled them with green sanding sugar.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3C_l6KE5Zq2Y6OhJZRNKM-o1u3mRyeafsmEtgm9vTF9WkgqR0e7E5mazZsu77MTzT-BI0hA0I_zK-aj6BGuGa7_XJZl719jlyprMjhND6Qe3w_NvZExy0TD-vVwNMoMDfHHEYLM0Yqw/s320/Blog+photos+Mar+09+074.jpg)
Here's the finished product! The Guinness in the batter wasn't detectable; it just added a certain smoky depth. (It reminded me a lot of my family's traditional chocolate birthday cake, which has a cup of strong coffee in the batter.) The ganache was a rich, dense surprise for the unsuspecting eater. My favorite part was the Bailey's-laced frosting. The addition of the liqueur transported a regular frosting to something heavenly.Note to the bakers out there: These cupcakes do not "dome up" when you bake them, making them perfect for when you want a flat-topped finished product. They'd be the right choice if you were laying a complicated fondant "cap" over your cupcakes, or if you wanted to emulate the look of a Hostess cupcake.
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