Without a Stout

Green. A symbol of envy as well as inexperience.

Both apply when assessing my cupcake skills, so it makes sense that a raucous holiday rich with clover colored elements would act as a Merrily Baked cupcake moment.

A bottle of Thomas Creek Banana Split Chocolate Stout has been floating around the back of the fridge for an almost embarrassing amount of time. It is really delicious! I just moved away from craving heavier beers. Plus, I loved being greeted by a sultry golden image of a pinup-worthy woman emerging from a half-peeled banana every time I opened the fridge.

Anyways.

Since I have always (not since birth or anything, but for a considerable time) wanted to attempt some version of a chocolate stout cake, St. Patrick’s Day manifested itself as the perfect opportunity to make room for a different bottle of something in the fridge and make this baking dream come true.

Mini Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Adapted from Chocolate Stout Cake by Smitten Kitchen

2 Cups AP Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 ½ Tsp. Baking soda
1 Tsp. Salt
¾ Cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
2 Eggs
2 Sticks (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Stout of Choice (I used Thomas Creek Banana Split Chocolate Stout)
¾ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder ( I used Hershey’s Specialty Dark)
1 Package, 10 oz., Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips (I used Ghirardelli – Half of these will be used for the frosting)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter then pour in 1 cup stout and bring to a simmer
Turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder til velvety, then set to the side to cool
Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare mini muffin tins with mini cupcake papers (this makes about 68 mini cupcakes)
Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda
In a stand mixer or bowl with an electric mixer, combine the Greek yogurt with the eggs
Mix in the velvety cocoa stout mixture
With the mixer on low, incorporate the dry ingredients – to avoid over mixing, I only let the machine whirl a couple turns, then finished the process by manually folding everything together with a rubber spatula
Use a small cookies scoop to place dollops of batter in the cupcake papers
Top each cupcake with mini chocolate chips
Bake 10 minutes, til the top is set and a toothpick comes out clean
Allow to cool thin top with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe below!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Package Cream Cheese, 8 oz., Room Temperature*
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Approximately Half the Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips, Melted
Green Sugar Sprinkles (Optional)

Place whatever amount of mini chocolate chips are left in the package in a microwave safe bowl
Microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring with a fork in between each segment of time until the chips are just melted
Set the room temperature cream cheese in a large mixing bowl
Commence whipping it with an electric hand mixer
Add powdered sugar ½ a cup at a time, incorporating it thoroughly
Pour in the vanilla
Add in the melted chocolate a few scoops at a time until fully combined
Swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake then top with the green sugar sprinkles for a festive touch

Tip*

I often decide to bake on a whim and therefore do not have the luxury of foresight to ensure ingredients – like butter, eggs, or cream cheese – are at room temperature. For this reason, I have developed a couple straightforward techniques to achieve the same result without the need for a Time-Turner.

Butter – Place in the microwave for 1 minute at 10% power level. Repeat til butter is just softened
Eggs – Turn the water tap on hot and run the eggs under the water for about 30 seconds, then place in a small bowl and fill with warm water. Allow to hang out and they will be ready when the egg step of the recipe comes into play.
Cream Cheese – While still in the foil wrapping, place the cream cheese in a bowl and cover with warm water. Similar to the eggs, allow to hang out for about 10 minutes, and the cream cheese will be good to go!