Chocolate, Beer, and Cupcakes

A few weeks ago I changed my status on Facebook to indicate that I was baking chocolate cupcakes made with Surly Coffee Bender, filled with an espresso ganache filling, and topped with white chocolate buttercream icing.

That might be my most commented status update yet, and most people wanted the recipe. I’m happy to oblige. (Plus, it is way easier posting it here than e-mailing it to every person who asked!)

Many thanks to Aaron for the fantastic photo of the final product. It was his birthday that inspired the whole thing anyway, as he is a huge Surly Brewing fan. (And I wanted to show off. Just being honest.)

The inspiration recipe can be found here, at the Smitten Kitchen, but considering we’ve got an underage kid working with us, I didn’t want to give him a cupcake full of liquor for lunch. (The beer pretty much bakes out of the cupcakes, leaving only moisture and flavor.)

Surly Coffee Bender Cupcakes

1 cup Surly Coffee Bender

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. (I only made 18 because for some reason I only have a 12 cup muffin tin and a 6 cup muffin tin.)

Melt butter in medium sauce pan over low heat. Add 1 cup Surly Coffee Bender and bring to a simmer. (Drink the rest of the Surly Coffee Bender so it doesn’t go to waste.) Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

Whisk four remaining dry ingredients in large bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add slightly cooled Surly-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 until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

As your cupcakes are cooling, you’ll want to start the ganache that will go in the center of the cupcakes.

Espresso Ganache Filling

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli baking bars)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

1 to 2 tablespoons Brewed Espresso (I went to Starbucks)

Chop chocolate into small pieces. (And yes, you could totally just use chocolate chips if that is what you have.) Place in a heat proof glass bowl.

Place cream in a small saucepan and heat on low until simmering. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the bowl and let sit for a minute.

Stir the chocolate and cream and watch the magic happen! Add the butter (I slice about a tablespoon off the stick in small (1/8 inch) slices. This brings it to room temperature quickly) and brewed espresso to the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. If you have chocolate pieces that just refuse to melt, you can microwave for no more than 5 seconds at a time, stirring each time. Be very careful not to scorch your chocolate in the microwave, because it isn’t salvageable at that point!

Allow to cool and thicken slightly.

Filling Fun

Using a small spoon, (I used my teaspoon measuring spoon because it has a nice hard edge) scoop a small amount of cake out of the center of each cupcake. Be careful not to go too deep, you don’t want to cut the bottom out.

Using a piping bag or a food storage bag with a corner cut off, pipe the ganache into each hole, filling until even with the top of the cupcake. (Yes, you could use a spoon, but piping it makes it much easier to control.)

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

The original recipe can be found here.

1 cup butter, softened (I used salted)

2 cups powdered sugar

6 ounces white chocolate or white baking bar, melted and cooled (I used baking chocolate)

3-5 tablespoons whipping cream or half and half. (I used heavy cream since I had it for the ganache.)

In a large bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle), beat the butter and confectioners sugar at low speed until fluffy.

Add in melted and cooled white chocolate and whipping cream (start with 3 tablespoons of cream and add in more to achieve desired consistancy). (I needed all 5.)

Beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl with a spatula.

Cover your cupcakes with frosting however works best for you. I used a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and just piped a swirl of frosting on top of each. You could certainly just use a knife, they still taste great! (So I heard. I didn't actually get to eat one given it was Lent and there was that whole gave up chocolate thing.)