Coffeehouse Stout Cupcakes

I really need to stop eating these for breakfast. And lunch. And after dinner. We're actually almost out of 24 cupcakes and I made them on Sunday. Oops? I can't help that they're dense because of the beer in them, so it makes them seem a little bit more life muffins than cupcakes. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself. What can I say? I'm really enjoying eating the first batch of cupcakes that I've ever made. What's that, you say? I've never made cupcakes before? But that seems impossible. Improbable. And in reality, that's probably true. But if my memory serves me correctly (which I have bad memory, so it may not), I have not ever made cupcakes before, or at least not a batch all by myself. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The fact that I've never made cupcakes before goes hand in hand with the fact that I've never enjoyed beer before. But alas, Will has harangued me into actually giving beer a shot and apparently, if it's good quality craft beer, I like it. Particularly, I like Alewerks, here in Williamsburg. And I really enjoy their coffeehouse stout and their pumpkin ale (among many other really good beers they have). So I figured why not try two new things at once, by putting beer in my cupcakes?

Needless to say, it was a huge success. Stout + cupcakes = yum. I couldn't think of a better beer to start my beer-cupcaking with than the coffeehouse stout. Because you get a little bit stout, a little bit coffee, and a lot bit chocolate cupcake. And then you put some beer in the frosting and it's delish. I'm not overly surprised it turned out so well, since I have annual success making my Guinness Cake every March. But to turn that quality of dense, flavorful cake into cupcakes? There's where I thought the challenge would be. Apparently there was no challenge, other than making sure the icing was whipped enough! Go figure. Anyways, I hope you enjoy trying this recipe :)

Along with this recipe was a little Facebook challenge, asking people to guess what I was baking (in the oven) that I had never made before. The question yielded some interesting results, including one suggestion that I may have had jell-o in the oven. I've compiled a list below of all the desserts I apparently need to try making! Our friend Justin was the winner of this challenge and will be receiving a box of homemade cookies very soon. Make sure to like CWW on Facebook in order to occasionally win some homemade goodies!

Baking Notes: For the cupcakes, I substituted vanilla Greek yogurt in place of the original sour cream that the recipe calls for. For the icing, I added 2 tbsp stout, 1 tbsp worth was to substitute for some milk. I didn't use the icing in the cupcake recipe because I didn't have that much confectioner's sugar!!

Alewerks Coffeehouse Stout Cupcakes (adapted from Bake at 350; yields 24 cupcakes)
Cupcakes
12 tbsp (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup Alewerks Coffeehouse Stout, poured and settled
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Icing
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp Alewerks Coffeehouse Stout
1 tsp vanilla bourbon extract

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Stir in the beer and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes. While cooling, preheat oven to 350 and line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.

With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and Greek yogurt until smooth. Add in the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt and beat on medium speed until combined. Drop the batter into the cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (cupcake should feel bouncy). Cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove and place on wire cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

While cupcakes cool, make icing. In a large bowl with an electric mixture, combine sugar, butter, milk, beer and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy.

Cupcake Recipe: Bake at 350: Cupcakes on Tap
Icing Recipe: Domino Sugar: Buttercream Frosting

Here's the list of things I apparently need to make:
Soufle, Cobbler, Donuts, Meringue, *Pie (Will has requested Key Lime), Flan, Baked Alaska, *Jell-o, Plum pudding, Lemon bars, Tart, Banana bread, Creme brule, *Beignets, Strudel, Eclairs, Boston Creme Pie, Sponge cake, Pound cake, *Cheesecake, Macaroons, Torte, Cannoli, Truffles, Apple Dumplings

So it looks like I'll need a few more specialty items in order to do some of these....most specifically, a dessert torch.
*Starred items are things I have made before, but may or may not have blogged about