Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Last week I told you a little about my first wedding cake gig.  The bride and groom were having their reception at the Red Hook Brewery in New Hampshire, so they requested the cake have several tie-in's to beer.  They were:

1 - A cupcake tower with "glasses of beer" cupcakes.
2 - The wedding cake (instead of being your round tiered cake) would be a KEG cake!
3 - I was to find some way to incorporate beer into the cake.

I knew numbers 1 & 2 would be no problem, but was thrown for a loop when it came to a beer cupcake.  Nowadays this is pretty standard, but keep in mind this was early 2010.  There was no Cupcake Wars showing us the craziest combinations with their magnificent successes (and failures), so I did a little research.  After several trials and errors, I found the perfect recipe online, so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients

2 cups stout (I used Guinness)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.

Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mix and beat just to combine.

Add flour mixture and beat briefly on low.  Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.

Bake in three 8" round cake pans for 35 minutes.  (This recipe also works well as cupcakes - just adjust the bake time.)

Top with your favorite frosting - I LOVE this with a cream cheese icing...PERFECT.