Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Whiskey Buttercream and Salted Caramel

When I was growing up, my mom always steered me away from desserts that included any kind of booze. She didn’t do this to keep her youngest daughter off the sauce, but because she thought alcohol added nothing to desserts, and therefore should be avoided.

Ever since my first lick of dark chocolate liquor ice cream many years ago, it became clear that she and I disagreed on this very, very important issue.





Earlier this week I made some rosemary brown butter bread with Hoegaarden, one of my favorite beers. Today I’m focusing on yet another one of my favorite brews: oatmeal stout. My friends laugh when I order this, because when I’m not having oatmeal stout I’m either having white wine or the lightest beer on the list. It might be the fact that oatmeal stout simultaneously reminds me of coffee and chocolate (two of my favorite things), or it might be that it has tons of flavor without being overpoweringly hoppy. For whatever reason, I love it, and who needs to justify love?

While we’re talking about feelings, I must admit that I do NOT love whiskey. The 25% Irish part of me judges myself, but I can’t help it. In my eyes, whiskey belongs only as a supporting ingredient in baked goods…like in salted whiskey caramel and whiskey buttercream, you know, for example.

There’s not enough beer or whiskey in this recipe to put off the alcohol averse (like my mother…), but these cupcakes do have a nice kick. I’d even say that the kick is necessary, because otherwise you might just die of sugar overload (and not “die” in a good way…I mean you actually might not survive).

The cake is soft and light, with the dark stout giving a bit of depth to the supremely chocolatey cake. The filling, which is a mixture of caramel and buttercream, could be overpowering without a bit of liquor and salt, which come together to make a magical creamy whipped center.

This concludes this week’s boozy posts. Have a good St. Patrick’s Day! Get your Irish on!…or just eat a cupcake.

