Guinness and Grandma's

Over the course of cupcake experimentation these past few weeks, it become clear that cupcakes made with a butter base have a greater chance of becoming dry in my table top convection oven. In a search for a butter-less cupcake, this recipe popped up on Chow. The author had topped the cupcake with a cream cheese frosting, but I felt a molasses buttercream would be a better pairing.

Be warned: Although Chow states this will make 24 cupcakes, this recipe made over average sized 30 cupcakes for me. The cake itself is not overly sweet, so it's o.k. to be generous with the frosting (which means you may want to make at least 1 1/2 batches of the frosting recipe below).

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

1 - 12 oz Guinness Stout

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup oil (CHOW listed vegetable oil, but I used extra virgin olive oil)

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix and sift the dry ingredients together (cocoa, sugar, flour and baking soda) and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine Guinness, milk, oil, and vanilla.
• Beat in one egg at a time.
• Mix in sour cream.
• Gradually mix dry mixture into the wet mixture.
• Pour into lined or greased cupcake tin.
• Bake for 25 minutes (I actually cut the baking time down to 20-22 minutes for my little convection oven) or until cake tester comes out with a few crumbs.
• Cool on baking rack.

Molasses Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

4 cups (or more if you want a thicker frosting) confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup milk, room temp

1 tablespoon Grandma's Dark Molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla

• Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes or so.
• Add 1 cup of sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add 1 more cup of sugar and half the milk. Beat until smooth and creamy.
• Add 1 more cup of sugar, remaining milk and the molasses. Beat until smooth and creamy.
• Add 1 more cup of sugar and the vanilla. Beat on high until light and creamy, about 5 minutes.
• If frosting is too soft, gradually add more sugar until desired consistency is achieved.

Left over frosting can be stored in the fridge typically for up to 2 weeks (or until the expiration date on your milk!!)