Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bourbon Bacon Frosting

Our Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Bourbon Bacon Frosting recipe is perfect for St Patrick's Day celebrations or anytime you want a grown up cupcake! I created this recipe a few years ago while working at LeRoux Kitchen in Portland, Maine and my friend Michele got a couple of amazing drool-worthy photos! If you are ever in New England, do yourself a favor and stop by one of their locations. They are jam-packed with every kitchen tool you can think of and have the most amazing collection of gourmet olive oils and vinegars you can sample before you buy, including their famous 18 year balsamic vinegar! LeRoux Kitchen is where Esther and I met and eventually teamed up as the girls of The Bakers Confections & The Bakers Party Shop!

Since the stout is one of the key ingredients, I chose to work with Allagash Brewing Company's Black Stout. Allagash is a locally-owned Maine brewing company and their Black Stout is simply amazing! It comes in a 750ml bottle, so there will even be a little left to enjoy after baking these delicious cupcakes that are a perfect treat for St Patrick's Day or any time really! Beer, chocolate, bacon oh my!

To decorate the cupcakes I used our jumbo open star frosting tip to create the nice simple swirl. For the photos I use a single crispy piece of applewood smoked bacon, but you can also crumble the bacon so you get a little bit with each bite! A teeny tiny sprinkle of smoke sea salt really finishes off this delicious cupcake! I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes:
2 cups stout beer
2 cups unsalted butter
1 ½ cups unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa
4 cups brown sugar
1 1/3 cups sour cream
4 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with the liners of your choice. Our silver foil liners work great for this recipe!

Chop the butter into chunks and combine with the stout in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until butter is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in  the cocoa and brown sugar.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Add this to the beer mixture until well combined.

In another large bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Fold the flour mixture into the batter. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full (a cookie scoop works great for filling cupcake liners) and bake 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Makes 18-24 cupcakes.

Bourbon Bacon Frosting:
2 pounds confectioners sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
¼ tsp salt
1-2 tbsp bourbon
1-2 tbsp whole milk, if needed
½ pound of crispy applewood smoked bacon strips
smoked sea salt, to taste (optional)

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and 1 tablespoon of the bourbon. Beat until it all comes together then taste to see if you want more bourbon flavor. If so add more bourbon until you reach the desired consistency for icing. If you don’t want a very strong bourbon flavor add more milk just a little at a time if needed.

Place desired frosting tip in a disposable frosting bag and fill with icing, then pipe onto your cupcakes. Either crumble the bacon or place slivers on the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with a little smoked sea salt! This recipe makes enough icing for about 24 standard size cupcakes.

Cheers!

~the girls

This post was written by Shauna of The Bakers Party Shop and photographed by Michele. If you share a photo from our post a link must be displayed back to this post and credit given to The Bakers Party Shop. All photos and content are copyright of The Bakers Party Shop & The Bakers Confections, All rights reserved 2015.