Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

I feel like St Patrick's Day is celebrated more the St Georges in England. Maybe we love it because it's a great excuse for some excellent Guinness-fuelled shenanigans?

Either way, have a bit of cake with it, eh?

This is part of my Guinness-inspired bakes collection that will be added to gradually. It's a classic boozy chocolate sponge, topped with a beautiful creamy mascarpone icing, that mimics the frothy top. Stout gives chocolate cake a rich, malty, almost treacley flavour.

And this icing might become your favourite - it goes beautifully with carrot, lemon and raspberry cakes.

TIP: You get 500ml in a bottle of Guinness, so if you don't fancy drinking the rest, make a double batch. Or bake the rest in an 8" round tin, then freeze it for your next celebration.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Makes 18

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 250ml stout - preferably Guinness if it's for St Patrick's day, but if you've got a good local brewery then of course support them by using their darkest.

• 250g butter or baking block

• 75g cocoa powder

• 400g sugar. Caster will work, but light brown soft will add a dense fudginess

• 150ml soured cream or plain full fat yogurt

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tbsp good vanilla

• 275g plain flour

• 2.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

For the mascarpone icing:

• 500g mascarpone

• Couple of tablespoons plain yogurt

• 100g icing sugar

• 2 tsp good vanilla

  
  

Method:

1. Pop 18 liners into your muffin tins. Switch the oven on to 180C/160C fan.

2. Get a big pan, gently melt the butter or baking block, then whisk in the stout. Remove from the heat.

3. In a mixing bowl, weight the cocoa and sugar, then whisk into the pan.

4. Then use that bowl to sift together your flour and bicarb.

5. Beat together the sour cream or yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Whisk these into the pan until well combined, then gently fold in the flour and bicarb.

6. Get the batter into a jug, it's a lot less messy than trying the two-spoon game. Fill your muffin liners evenly for equal cakes.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes until the middle springs back and a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then get them onto a cooling rack.

8. Meanwhile make the icing: Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Give it a taste and add a little more yogurt if you wish.

9. Once cooled, top with the icing. You can either spread it on with a palette knife, or pipe it pretty. Dust with a little cocoa powder if you wish.