Gina, you haven't offended anyone, I'm sure! It's not your fault what someone else named these cupcakes. As a non-drinker, I'm not familiar with names of drinks, and unfortunatly, the first thing that "Car Bomb" brings to mind are terrorists and car bombs in Iraq, and other places. There is so much of that going on, & we've all seen and heard far too much of that type of thing, I think. And that's why the name is offensive. Foodsonastump, you are absolutely right! Definitely NOT a good thing to introduce the flavor of ANY kind of alcohol to kids! Anyone who has dealt with alcoholism in any way shape or form, even at a distance, knows that! But I won't get on that soap box this morning. Actually, even though I am not a 'drinker' I do love to cook & bake with it, and love to eat the finished products. I'm not familiar with the flavor of guiness, but I do think these cupcakes sound very good, and am clipping it to try soon. Thanks, Gina, for posting it. Rusty

publickman, thanks for the mention that Pernigotti can still be purchased! I don't know why I never thought to search on Amazon.com for it, but I just did and have ordered it from chefshop.com through Amazon's Marketplace. It is NOT eligible for Prime membership's free 2-day shipping, but if you're registered at Amazon it's a one-click to order it...so convenient! Oh boy, my Black Bottom Cupcakes are going to be soooooo good again with this stuff. They're good anyway, but with the Pernigotti they jump up a whole level higher. Scharffenberger's cocoa is okay but Valhrona is better. But I like the Pernigotti best of all.

Sorry about that - here is Nigella Lawson's recipe: For the cake: 1 cup Guinness 1 stick plus 2 two tablespoons unsalted butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 2 cups superfine sugar 3/4 cup sour cream 2 eggs 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2-1/2 tsp. baking soda For the topping: 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature 1-1/4 cups confectioners sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter and line a 9-inch springform pan. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter - in spoons or slices - and heat until the butter is melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda. Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake. When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the frosting. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sift over the confectioner's sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsifted confectioner's sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint. There are other recipes identical to this but use 2 8 inch layers - which I would like to do. Pat

Thanks! I scraped off the frosting and re-whipped it with a little extra Baileys, lol. Turned out awesome and they look good as new and I'm much happier about it. Plus I gained quite an audience doing it in the company kitchen! The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen. I made the cake and ganache as written (the cake is the BEST chocolate cake I've ever had though I did add a little bit of espresso powder) and used less sugar for the frosting and more Baileys. I doubled the cupcake and ganache and quadrupled the frosting and I just barely had enough to cover them all, though I used a lot more than she did as I like ample frosting. Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes (Smitten Kitchen) While the Guinness in the cake gets mostly baked out, the Baileys is fresh and potent, so if you're making this for people who don't drink - ahem, nobody I know, but I hear such people exist - you'll probably want to swap it with milk. The Baileys frosting recipe makes a smallish amount of frosting - enough to just cover the cupcakes. Because they were so rich and this frosting so sweet, I felt it only needed a little. Double it if you want more of a towering effect. Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes 1 cup stout (such as Guinness) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process) 2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream Ganache Filling (Updated to double it, based on many commenters suggestions - thanks!) 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate 2/3 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional) Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes) 3 to 4 cups confections sugar 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue 3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof) Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work) Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely. Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you're using it) and stir until combined. Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom - aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your "tasters". Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. [This is a fantastic trick I picked up while working on the cupcakes article for Martha Stewart Living; the test kitchen chefs had found that when they added the sugar slowly, quick buttercream frostings got less grainy, and tended to require less sugar to thicken them up.] When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn't, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Ice and decorate the cupcakes. [I used a star tip and made little "poofs" everywhere and sprinkled it with various colors of sanding sugar to keep it looking festive for New Years. I bet shaved dark and white chocolates would look gorgeous as well.] Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled - or filled and frosted - in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.) redone! Here is a link that might be useful: Irish Cupcakes