Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Friday is now complete with delicious chocolate stout cupcakes. Man I love Fridays.

After editing and writing this post ALL I want to do is hibernate under the covers with my book and these chocolate stout cupcakes. TRUTH: these have to be the most decadent recipe on this here blog.

And sometimes, just sometimes… after a plate of root vegetable hash, you need a little rich and decadent. I’m talking about floor-to-ceiling desserty goodness. Stout and chocolate are magical together… brown butter frosting, well you-know it’s brown butter frosting! All that’s left in this carnival of deliciousness is to garnish with chopped maple glazed bacon. Freaking ridiculous… I love it.

I’ve proclaimed to you all before that I’m not a huge lover of cake or frosting for that matter. But these cupcakes… I could eat all day long. It’s really a wonder that I didn’t!

And I should probably apologize for some of the major close ups. Sometimes I forget that these will be uploaded to a website and be all in-your-face. It’s just that it all smelled so delicious that it only pulls my camera {aka my face} closer to it. Like the smell of stout and chocolate… or the brown butter, HELLO!? I swear in my next life I’m designing plug-in scents. No more clean laundry… hello brown butter and chocolate! Who’s with me?!

Make the glazed bacon:

Lay 3 to 4 strips of applewood slab bacon on an oven-safe wire rack set into a rimmed sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Brush with maple syrup and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove, flip and brush with more maple syrup and return the bacon to the oven for 5 more minutes. Repeat this step 4 to 6 more times or until the bacon is fully cooked and significantly darker in color. While the bacon is still warm {it will be sticky but will harden as it cools} remove the glazed bacon to cool completely. Chop it up and you’re good to go. Reserve two tablespoons of the maple bacon fat and strain it to catch any impurities.

Make the cake:

Start by adding the unsweetened dark cocoa, chopped chocolate and instant coffee granules into a heat safe bowl.

In the meantime melt a stick of butter and a cup of stout beer. I use Killian’s because I still had some leftover from this recipe and well… I can only cook and bake with it, to drink it is impossible for me.

Next, bring to a low simmer and when the butter has completely melted…

Then pour the warm buttery stout over the choco-cocoa-coffee mixture.

And then let it steep. The hot liquids will soften the chocolate and dissolve the coffee granules. So when you stir it all up it will be gloriously smooth. Now scoot that off to the side for a moment.

Next, in separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Next, in yet another large mixing bowl combine two eggs, 1/3 cup of sour cream and 1-1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Whisk those together until smooth. It should be slightly thick and kind of resemble custard.

Then, while whisking, sloooooowly pour in a little bit of the warm chocolate mixture.

Next, once mixed in, pour in the rest while whisking until your arms start to burn.

Then add in all of the whisked dry ingredients and whisk, whisk, whisk.

I sort of wanted to stick my head under that cascade of cake batter.

Next, divide the cake batter among two muffin pans lined with cupcake liners. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Make The Stout Glaze:

In the meantime; pour a half cup {or the rest of the bottle} back into the same sauce pan as earlier. To that add two tablespoons dark brown sugar and a tablespoon of butter.

Next, let the cupcakes cool for 5-8 minutes…

And then brush them with the stout glaze.

Finally, let those gorgeous beauties cool completely before frosting.

Speaking of frosting, let’s make some.

Make The Frosting:

Start by browning six tablespoons of butter. For those who haven’t done this before, I did a post on it here.

Next, pour the browned butter and two tablespoons of the dripping from the maple glazed bacon into a medium to large bowl and let cool.

Then measure and add in the 3 cups of powdered sugar.

Then two tablespoons of real maple syrup. This step is optional… but it really brings out the maple in the glazed bacon.

Next, mix until crumbly…

And then thin out with 2-4 tablespoons of whole milk.

Ta-DA! Brown butter frosting. Mmmm-MMM!

Place a dollop of frosting on a cooled cupcake…

… and frost!

Top with as much or as little glazed bacon as you want.

Thasss it!

The moist chocolaty cake is perfection to say the least. Topping these with {my new favorite} frosting ANNNNND maple glazed bacon simply covers all the senses. Amazing!

Technically… these Chocolate Stout Cupcakes don’t even need frosting.

#awesome.

Enjoy! And if you give this Chocolate Stout Cupcakes recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

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Yield: 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes + Brown Butter Frosting and Maple Glazed Bacon

Rich chocolaty cake topped with the most amazing brown butter frosting and sweet maple glazed bacon pieces.

Prep Time: 1 hour hr

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 2 hours hrs

Ingredients

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (not chocolate chips)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1 cup stout beer
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

FOR THE STOUT GLAZE:

• 1/2 cup stout beer
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

FOR THE MAPLE GLAZED BACON:

• 4 slices applewood bacon
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER FROSTING:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons maple bacon drippings, strained of impurities
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 tablespoons whole milk

Equipment

• USA Pan (1200MF) Bakeware Cupcake and Muffin Pan, 12 Well, Nonstick & Quick Release Coating, Made in the USA from Aluminized Steel

Instructions 

MAKE THE CUPCAKES:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine cocoa powder, chopped semi-sweet chocolate and instant coffee granules.
• In a medium saucepan, pour in the cup of stout and add the stick of butter. Bring to low simmer and then pour the stout/butter over the chocolate/cocoa mixture. Stir until the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl beat together the two eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream. Slowly pour in the cooled, chocolate mixture and stir.
• Next, add in the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
• Divide the cupcake batter among the 24 cupcake liners and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a cake tester comes back clean.

MAKE THE GLAZE:

• While the cupcakes are baking, combine 1/2 cup of beer, 2 tablespoons of butter and dark brown sugar into the same medium saucepan used for the cupcakes. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the temperature to keep warm.
• When the cupcakes have finished baking, remove and let cool for 5 minutes before brushing with the stout glaze. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

MAKE THE MAPLE BACON:

• Preheat your oven to 400°. Line a rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil and set an oven-safe rack onto the foil.
• Lay four strips of thick, slab bacon on the rack and bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove, flip and brush with maple syrup and return the bacon to the oven for 5 more minutes. Repeat this step 4 to 6 more times or until the bacon is fully cooked and significantly darker in color.
• Remove the bacon to a cutting board, saving the maple bacon drippings for the frosting. The bacon will be slightly sticky at first, but once it cools the bacon will firm up. After the bacon has cooled, give it a rough chop.
• Strain the maple bacon drippings and reserve 2 tablespoons for the frosting.

MAKE THE FROSTING:

• In a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of strained maple bacon drippings.
• Continue to cook the butter, stirring occasionally, until it turns a golden amber color, about 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully so the butter does not burn. Once browned, pour into a large bowl to cool.
• Add the powdered sugar and maple syrup to the cooled brown butter. Using an electric mixer, slowly drizzle in the whole milk while mixing on low speed until you’ve reached a desired consistency.
• Frost the cupcakes and garnish with chopped maple bacon.

Serving: 1cupcake, Calories: 306kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 38mg, Sodium: 203mg, Potassium: 117mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 34g, Vitamin A: 266IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 1mg

Author: Laurie McNamara

Course: Desserts & Sweet Treats

Cuisine: American