Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

My parents have had a big bash to celebrate St. Patrick's Day for over 10 years now. It consists of 50 or more people enjoying good food, plentiful drinks, and friendly company at their house, with the dancing usually starting around midnight. :) It's always a fantastic time and I wouldn't miss it!

In recent years, my brother Brian has started the car bomb tradition, which consists of a shot glass half-filled with Jameson and half-filled with Bailey's Irish Creme dropped into a glass of Guinness. The trick is to drink it as fast as you can before the mixture curdles. Sounds like fun right? Well, there are usually about 10 or 12 people doing this at a time, at multiple points in the evening.

So when I saw this recipe, I decided it would be a neater, sweeter way to enjoy the elements of the car bomb. They consist of chocolate-based cupcakes made with Guinness:

then filled with chocolate ganache made with Jameson (or other Irish whiskey):

I was able to cut out the middles just using a paring knife and making a circle.

and finally iced with a buttercream icing rich with the taste of Bailey's:

These were certainly a hit - everyone loved them! I didn't make any adjustments from the original recipe so I am just going to link you to it here at Smitten Kitchen.

Next time I will most likely increase the amount of Jameson in the ganache to a tablespoon or two - many people reported that they couldn't even taste the Jameson in there at all. I also ended up having to make another half batch of icing - so start off make 1 1/2 times the recipe. Slainte!

And special thanks for Meg for icing!