These moist Guinness chocolate cupcakes are full of a deep chocolate flavour with a hint of Guinness beer flavour. They are topped with a creamy chocolate Guinness buttercream. These are perfect for St. Patrick's Day!
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These Guinness chocolate cupcakes do not have a strong beer flavour to them. The beer brings out the chocolate flavour much as adding coffee to a chocolate cake does. You are left with only a hint of the beer flavor in both the cake and frosting.
The chocolate cupcake is moist and fluffy with a big chocolate flavour. The buttercream has both cocoa powder and melted chocolate in it which makes it very chocolate-y. If you like chocolate on chocolate cupcakes, this one is for you!
For more St. Patrick's Day recipes, try Irish whisky cake, Irish cream Nanaimo bars, Irish soda bread or mini Baileys cheesecakes!
Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- large eggs
- vanilla extract
- Guinness beer - or any other stout beer.
- cocoa powder
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- shortening - I used a combination of shortening and butter in the frosting. You can use all butter if you prefer.
- semi sweet chocolate - use good quality baking chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips.
- powdered sugar
How to make these cupcakes
Mix all the dry ingredients together and then set that aside. In a separate bowl, stir the melted butter and the sugar together. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and Guinness.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Chocolate Buttercream
This buttercream is super chocolate-y! If you don't particularly like the butter flavour in buttercream frosting, you will love this! Both cocoa powder and melted chocolate is in this frosting. All you taste is a creamy, velvety, chocolate frosting. It is delicious!
I also used a combination of shortening and butter in this frosting. You can sub the shortening out and use full butter if you prefer. I find that the shortening lessens the strong butter flavour, and also makes the frosting super pipeable.
Start by creaming the shortening and butter together until it is smooth and lightened in colour. Stir in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Mix in half the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of beer. Mix in the remaining powdered sugar and the salt, and then the rest of the beer until the buttercream is the right consistency.
For more step by step photos, via the web story for these Guinness chocolate cupcakes.
Tips
- If you want to use all butter for the buttercream, replace the ¼ cup of shortening with ¼ cup of butter. You will be using a total of 1 cup butter in the buttercream recipe.
- Make sure your butter and shortening is at room temperature. I leave them out at room temperature for at least an hour before making the buttercream.
- You can use any kind of stout beer. Just make sure that it is a stout. All other kinds of beer would not work well at all in this recipe. The stout enhances the chocolate flavour.
- I piped the buttercream onto the cupcakes with a Wilton 1M tip (my favorite!)
📋 Recipe
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Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Equipment
- one 12 cup muffin tin
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup Guinness beer (or other stout beer)
Frosting
- ¼ cup shortening room temperature
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate melted
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5-6 tablespoons Guinness beer (or other stout beer)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir the melted butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, stirring after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and Guinness beer.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
- Fill the cupcakes liners ¾ full with the batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in their muffin tin until cooled.
- For the frosting, beat the shortening and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of your bowl when needed.
- Add in cocoa powder and mix until well combined.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of Guinness beer and mix until well combined.
- Mix in remaining powdered sugar and salt. Add remaining Guinness beer until you get the right consistency of frosting.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Wilton 1M tip.
- Store these at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Notes
- If you want to use all butter for the buttercream, replace the ¼ cup of shortening with ¼ cup of butter. You will be using a total of 1 cup butter in the buttercream recipe.
- Make sure your butter and shortening is at room temperature. I leave them out at room temperature for at least an hour before making the buttercream.
- You can use any kind of stout beer. Just make sure that it is a stout. All other kinds of beer would not work well at all in this recipe. The stout enhances the chocolate flavour.
- I piped the buttercream onto the cupcakes with a Wilton 1M tip (my favorite!)
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️