Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

It's that time of year. St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow. For some, this is like a national holiday, worthy of skipping work and the like. In this house, March Madness means birthdays and St. Patrick's Day and not college basketball; it means we've already polished off an entire chocolate Guinness cake and nearly a loaf of soda bread. So, cupcakes are the next logical move, right?

I realize the name of these cupcakes may be offensive to some people. I also know that it's kind of a mouthful to call them Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Baileys-Jameson-cream-cheese frosting.

This recipe is a loose adaptation of Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake.

Ingredients
1 cup of Guinness, poured and settled
12 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. coffee extract
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or line two muffin pans with liners. This recipe will yield 24 cupcakes.

1. Bring together the beer and the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the butter has completely melted into the beer.
2. Add the chocolate and stir together until it's melted. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the two eggs, the extracts and the sour cream.
4. Add the sugar to the chocolate-beer-butter mixture and whisk to combine.
5. Turn your mixer on and slowly pour in the beer butter mix into the bowl with the sour cream and eggs. 
6. In a separate bowl, sift together the cocoa, salt, baking soda and flour. Add it slowly to the batter.
7. Scoop out the batter into the tins and fill them about 2/3 of the way full.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with no wet crumbs and the sides of the cupcakes pull away from the pan.
9. Cool in the pan for ten minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Wash your mixing bowl; you'll need it for the frosting.

Frosting
8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 Tbsp. (or more) of Bailey's Irish Cream
2-3 Tbsp. (or more) of Jameson Irish Whiskey
2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

Directions

1. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of your now-clean mixing bowl and cream it until it becomes smooth and a bit fluffy.
2. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and combine.
3. Add the Irish cream and whiskey and combine.
4. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar and whip it up until it's good and aerated--don't be afraid to let it go for a couple of minutes. You want the frosting to have enough structure. If you sense that it's too wet from the liquid you've added just simply adjust by adding more sifted confectioner's sugar. 
5. Frost each cupcake! Voila!