Chocolate and stout cupcakes

  

I don’t like drinking beer of any kind, but I am rather partial to baking with beer, particularly with chocolate.  This recipe uses stout and adds a rich depth to the chocolate – you wouldn’t know it was stout but you’d know something extra was there.  I say this to ease the minds of fellow beer-haters!

Like many women, I am an emotional shopper and rather than go for the obvious choice of Guinness, my eye was drawn to the beautiful bottle of March of the Penguins stout, made by a microbrewer (Williams Bros BrewingCo) in Alloa, Scotland.  What can I say?  Who could resist the penguins?

The frosting for these cupcakes is incredibly simple – just two ingredients – but works perfectly in flavour and texture.  The dark, rich, moist cupcakes carry the light whippy frosting perfectly.  The frosting needs nothing else, not even vanilla...and how often do I say that?  (Answer: never!  Except for today!)

I know I’m banging on about frosting a lot lately, but I’ve been trying different things; I wouldn’t exactly say I am bored with buttercream but it’s nice to discover all the alternatives out there.  This one is heavenly – like a softer, creamier ice cream.

The dark, rich cupcake topped with the creamy white frosting resembles a glass of stout...but with lots of chocolaty sugary goodness thus better!

On an unrelated note, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Lakeland Christmas preview this week.  Wow!  And if I can just repeat: wow!  I am saving up my pennies already as I saw so many things I will be buying.  In the style of the Generation Game conveyor belt memory test bit, here are some of the things I want: speech bubble cookie cutters, topsy turvy cake pans, Christmas pudding plate, bowl and jug, slender rolling pins with Christmas designs on them so that when you roll out the icing it embosses it, cute little ice cream bowls and matching spoons, cheese making equipment, giant biscuit cutters in the shape of Christmas baubles with little cut out panels, Russian doll salt and pepper set...and did I mention the awesome, yet affordable, copper pans?  I am going to have to be a very good little girl right up until Christmas for Father Christmas to deem me worthy of all those goodies!

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

250g soft brown sugar
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
150g plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
205ml stout – I used March of the Penguins, but Guinness or Mackeson would also be perfect
50g cocoa powder

For the frosting:

500g mascarpone cheese
100g icing sugar

To decorate: chocolate sprinkles or a dusting of cocoa powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper cases – use deep cupcake or muffin cases rather than shallow fairy cake cases.

Place the sugar and butter in a bowl and beat together until fluffy and light.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding some of the flour if it looks like it might curdle.

Measure out the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

In a jug, measure out the stout and stir in the cocoa powder.  NB. Let the head on the stout settle before you take your final reading of the measurement - you will need to top it up in the jug as it settles.

Pour some of the stout mixture into the batter and beat.

Add a couple of tablespoons of the flour mix and beat.

Continue until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the paper cases and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the batter comes out clean.  Sadly, I can’t tell you how long mine took as I forgot to set an oven timer....doh!

Leave to cool on a wire rack, and remove from the cupcake pan as soon as you can safely handle the cakes.

When the cakes are cool you can make the frosting (you can also make the cakes a day before frosting if you wish): Place the mascarpone in a bowl and beat to soften.

Gradually beat in the icing sugar.

Spoon onto the cupcakes and spread, or pipe if you prefer (I piped).

Decorate with either chocolate sprinkles or cocoa powder.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Spiced beer cupcakes with honey buttercream

As it’s Father’s Day this weekend, my choice of baking had to be something that the CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da) would really enjoy. The CCD likes a spice cake and he likes beer, so this recipe seemed to select itself!

I chose Adnam’s Broadside as it’s one of the CCD’s favourites. Bitterness seems to be my nemesis with flavours – I just can’t fathom how anyone can drink a pint of beer without their mouth puckering up!

The intensity of the heavy spicing and beer needed balancing out with something softer and silkier, so I added a honey buttercream to the cake; it adds a beautiful texture to the cake. My logic was that there are honey beers, so it had to be a combination that worked!

The aroma that filled the kitchen while these little cakes baked was intoxicating. I always used to be wary of baking with beer as I don’t like the drink, but the harsh flavour disappears on baking and adds richness and depth to the spices.

Don’t be tempted to cut down on the amount of sugar in the sponge recipe; I know it looks a lot, but it’s necessary to balance the bitterness of the beer. The dark sugar and the beer combine to produce an amazing flavour – first of all you get beer, but without the bitterness, then the spice hits, then the beer comes back. Really flavoursome with a grown up edge!

Happy Fathers’ Day CCD!

Ingredients

For the cake:
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220g dark brown soft sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
200g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250ml beer – I used Adnam’s Broadside, because it’s one of the CCD’s favourites

For the buttercream:
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
300g icing sugar
3 tablespoons honey

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Line two cupcake pans with paper cases (this mix will make 14 cupcakes).

Beat together the butter and sugar until well combined and light – as the recipe uses dark brown sugar it will never whip up like caster sugar will, but you should notice it gets lighter.

Beat in the egg.

Beat in the spices.

Fold in half the flour, along with the bicarbonate of soda.

Stir in half the beer. I found it best to keep the beaters going and pour the beer in a very slow trickle.

Repeat the process with the remaining flour and beer.

Ladle the batter into the paper cases; the batter it will be wet – don’t panic!

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. Mine took 20 minutes.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack for 5 minutes until the cakes are cool enough and firm enough to handle.

Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on the wire rack.

At this point the cakes will keep for several days in an airtight container.

Now make the buttercream: whip up the butter until it is light and fluffy.

Beat in the icing sugar and continue to beat until well combined. A good test for this is to take a little of the mix on your tongue and press against the roof of your mouth – if it feels grainy keep beating!

Beat in the honey.

If the buttercream seems soft, refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until it firms up.

Spread or pipe over the top of the cupcakes.

Optional: grate a little nutmeg over the top of the cupcakes.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.