Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes: surprisingly complex flavor in a small package
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes, made with rich mascarpone, rich dark chocolate and the lift and rich flavors of Guinness beer are the perfect not-too-sweet St. Patrick’s Day dessert.
For more years than I remember I’ve heard how Guinness and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly, and after tasting these, the rumors are 100% true.
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 20 min | 50 min | 18 cupcakes | Easy |
I’ve long been a fan of using beer and cider to leaven baked goods (see my Hot Honey Beer Bread and Applesauce Bread and Apple Fritters for examples). It adds depth of flavor and the herbs and grains used in beer bring out flavors in recipes you really never knew were there. Such is the case with the Guinness. On its own, Guinness has undertones of caramel and coffee plus the bitterness inherent in most beers. Guess what loves bitterness, caramel, and coffee—it’s chocolate. This is a case where both ingredients make the other better.
What you end up with here is a delicately tender Chocolate Guinness cake recipe with deep chocolate flavor and something else that beefs up that chocolate flavor. This easy stout cake batter bakes up into cupcakes that are not too sweet, allowing you to truly taste all the range of complex flavors. The only downside is that the cakes smell a bit like beer, lol, but once you top them with the best whipped cream frosting laced with Irish cream, you won’t care.
Why Guinness and chocolate make surprisingly delicious cake together
- Malt + hops: We’ve all had Whoppers and know that malt and chocolate are also big fans of each other, but the hops is perhaps surprising. Good chocolate always has some floral notes in it, and the hops again bring that out in a subtle way that you wouldn’t connect at first.
- Undertones in the Guinness: Caramel + bitter + coffee. Chocolate is supported by all of these flavors. The only thing missing here is cinnamon which also makes chocolate taste more chocolatey.
- Texture win: Internally these cakes are light, fluffy, tender cakes due to the softening effect of the slightly acidic Guinness and all the bubbles from the Guinness itself and the bubbles produced when the acidic chocolate and Guinness hit the baking soda in the batter.
- It makes chocolate look more chocolatey: Guinness is dark, nearly the color of straight molasses. Just like molasses does for breads, Guinness adds even more color to an already dark batter with cocoa and chocolate. That’s great because who wants a wimpy looking pale chocolate cake?
Why you should save a pint for these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- Unusual: Everyone knows what a brownie tastes like or the meltingly wonderful texture of proper slice of Texas sheet cake, but a Guinness chocolate cake? It’s one of those, “That sounds so weird, I need to try it.”
- Quick: There’s maybe 20 minutes of work here + 20 minutes of baking and 10 minutes of cooling. This is a mix and go batter not unlike muffins, and decoration is easy peasy.
- Mascarpone: Mascarpone really should be used in more cakes. It has unbelievable richness and smoothness that typical cream cheese (no slouch on its own) does not have. Since there’s not a ton of butter in the batter, the mascarpone adds in that delicious richness in its stead.
- Leftovers: This recipe will not use a full bottle of Guinness, so you can drink it with your cake if you’d like, or save the rest for Hot Honey Beer Bread, or cheese Guinness bread.
Ingredients for Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- All-purpose flour
- Dutch-process cocoa, such as Droste or Hershey’s Special Dark
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Chopped dark chocolate bar: a 60-70% cocoa content is ideal
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Mascarpone or cream cheese
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Guinness beer or other stout beer
- Dark chocolate chips (optional for more chocolate taste!)
Irish cream whipped cream frosting
- Green or mint gel food coloring
- 1 large marshmallow
- Heavy whipping cream
- Powdered sugar
- Irish cream or vanilla extract
- Sprinkles (optional)
Equipment needed
- 2 muffin tins
- muffin liners
- cookie scoop (helpful, but you can use a spoon or a 1/4 cup measuring cup)
- pastry bag with star tip
Process for making Guinness chocolate cupcakes
- Mix the dry ingredients: Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
- Mix the wet ingredients: Microwave the chocolate and butter in a cup. Mix the melted butter, melted chocolate, sugar, and mascarpone in a mixing bowl. Use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip everything until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Finish the batter: Make a well in the dry ingredients and then scrape in the wet ingredients. Pour the Guinness over the wet ingredients and the additional chocolate chips if you’re using them. Use a spatula to mix everything together just until the flour disappears.
- Bake the cupcakes: Fill the cupcakes with about 1/4 cup of batter. Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back in the middle when touched. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack while you make the frosting.
- Prep the pastry bag: Fit a pastry bag with a decorative star tip. Dip a small paintbrush in the gel coloring and paint stripes down the sides of the bag at intervals. 4-6 stripes will make a nice green-tinged whipped cream. Set the bag inside a tall cup.
- Frost: Melt the marshmallow in the microwave until poofy but not hard—about 25-30 seconds. Immediately scrape out the marshmallow into a mixing bowl with the heavy cream, Irish cream, and the powdered sugar. Whip the cream with your mixer until it holds its shape. Fill the pastry bag with the cream, and then pipe a swirl of cream on top each cupcake.
FAQs about alcohol in chocolate cupcakes
A standard beer doesn’t have either the amount of foam or the depth of flavor of a stout beer like Guinness here. If you can’t find Guinness, see if a store near you has any of these other stout beers. If you substituted any liquid, use buttermilk in place of the beer, but then it won’t have the same flavor; it will just taste like a good chocolate cake.
Nope, it just adds extra flavor that compliments both the Guinness and the chocolate. Plain old vanilla is almost as good, or a coffee liqueur like Kahlua would also be delicious here. Even a good spiced rum would work here too. Use what you have and know that there are no bad choices in this case.
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 18 cupcakes 1x
Description
The unlikely combination of Guinness beer and chocolate come together here in moist chocolate cake in cupcakes form that won’t give you a toothache but will surprise you with the dark notes of caramel and coffee in the beer that supports the flavor of the chocolate so well.
Ingredients
Guinness chocolate cake batter
- 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (325 g)
- 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (20 g), such as Droste or Hershey’s Special Dark
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons chopped dark chocolate bar (55 g)
- 3 Tablespoons butter (37 g)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 g)
- 4 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup Guinness beer or other stout beer (236 mL)
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (85 g), (optional)
Irish Whipped Cream frosting
- Green or mint gel food coloring
- 1 large marshmallow
- 1 and 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Line muffin tins with 18 cupcake papers.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Do not just whisk the ingredients together as the cocoa often has lumps that will be hard for a whisk or just your hands to break up. If you don’t have a sifter, press the ingredients through a sieve into the bowl.
- Microwave the chocolate and butter in a cup. It should take about 40-50 seconds to melt completely.
- Mix the melted butter, melted chocolate, sugar, and mascarpone in a mixing bowl.
Use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip everything until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. - Make a well in the dry ingredients and then scrape in the wet ingredients. Pour the Guinness over the wet ingredients and the additional chocolate chips if you’re using them. Use a spatula to mix everything together just until the flour disappears.
- Fill the cupcakes with about 1/4 cup of batter.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back in the middle when touched.
- Turn out the cupcakes onto a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes.
Use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip everything until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
Frost the cupcakes
- Fit a pastry bag with a decorative star tip. Dip a small paintbrush in the gel coloring and paint stripes down the sides of the bag at intervals. 4-6 stripes will make a nice green-tinged whipped cream. Set the bag inside a tall cup.
- Melt the marshmallow in the microwave until poofy but not hard—about 25-30 seconds. Immediately scrape out the marshmallow into a mixing bowl with the heavy cream, Irish cream, and the powdered sugar. Whip the cream with your mixer until it holds its shape and no longer drips off the end of the whip attachment.
- Fill the pastry bag with the cream, pressing lightly on the sides of the bag to help the food coloring stick to the cream.
- Pipe a swirl of cream on top each cupcake.
- Cupcakes are best eaten the day they’re made, but you can store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- + 10 minutes cooling time:
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Irish
