St Patrick's Day cupcakes recipe

These delicious St Patrick’s Day cupcakes are great if you’re planning to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, which is on the 17th of March. 

Stout, light brown sugar, and sour cream make the cupcake sponge extra moist. Topped with a rich Irish cream-infused frosting, this is definitely one of our favourite St Patrick’s Day recipes. Finish with green sugar sprinkles and serve. This recipe is for 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 100g soft butter
• 100ml stout
• 40g cocoa powder
• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g light soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 75ml sour cream

Irish cream frosting:

• 200g soft butter
• 450g icing sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tbsps Irish cream liquor
• Green sugar sprinkles to decorate (optional)
• Green food colouring (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas Mark 4. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases. Place the butter, stout and cocoa powder in a saucepan and place over a gentle heat, stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Add the cooled stout mixture and beat for 1 minute using an electric whisk on a medium speed. Add the egg and sour cream and beat for a further 2 minutes.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and springy to the touch. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, cream the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar a little at a time then beat in the Irish cream liquor. Add the food colouring if using (start with a little and add more depending on the shade of green you want). Spoon or pipe the icing on the cooled cakes and sprinkle with green sugar to decorate.

Top tips for making St Patrick’s Day cupcakes

If you opt for green food colouring, you might want to add a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar to make sure the buttercream keeps its form. Choose gel food colouring too as you’ll use less and it will give you more vibrant colour.

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