Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

With a strong taste of Guinness in the cupcake, these treats are perfect for St Patrick's Day! Or if you just like Guinness. And you guys, I'm getting better at buttercream!

I topped these with a SUPER easy homemade caramel sauce, and some hazelnuts (although they would be great if you stuck a little mini pretzel in the top). I could seriously eat an entire jug of the caramel sauce, so be careful...it's addictive. You can find the recipe for the caramel sauce here. All you need to make it is a saucepan and candy thermometer. I recommend using the thermometer instead of timing the sugar as the recipe says, and removing the sugar from the heat as soon as it reaches 200C. If you time it rather than measure the temperature, you run the risk of burning the sauce.

Piping buttercream is soooo much easier with the right tools. Unfortunately, you can't find tips the size you need in most supermarkets, so I recommend going to a kitchen store, and look for the large tips. Or order them off Amazon. For these, I used the Wilton 1M tip. Here are some more tips to make sure you get the best buttercream possible:

• Ensure you leave the buttercream out at least 30 minutes before you need it so it reaches room temperature. This means that the fat in the butter will be able to hold air better, which makes the buttercream nice and light.
• Whip the butter for two minutes before you add the icing sugar, and about 5 minutes after you add the sugar. This will make the icing fluffy.
• Watch some YouTube videos on piping. I recommend CakesByLynz. She's really good!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
50g cocoa powder
300g caster sugar
large pinch of salt
250g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp vanilla extract
125ml vegetable oil
300ml Guinness
2 large eggs, whisked

Buttercream for 12 cupcakes:
200g room temperature unsalted butter
2tsp vanilla
2TBSP double cream
1TBSP Caramel Sauce
400g icing sugar

Bring the Guinness to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 180C. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

Sift together the cocoa powder, caster sugar, salt, flour, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Make sure it is well combined. Make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, measure out the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and hot Guinness. Whisk so it's slightly combined (it won't fully combine here), and then quickly pour into the dry ingredients. Whisk until the mixture is completely blended together and cooled a little.

In a separate bowl, whisk the two eggs. Then add to the cake mix and whisk until they are completely added. The mix will be very loose.

Using a ladle, pour the mixture into the prepared muffin cups. Fill about 1cm from the top as they don't rise very much. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, turning the tray halfway through. Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack before moving on.

After the muffins are cooled, whip the butter, vanilla, caramel sauce, and cream with a hand or stand mixer for two minutes until light and fluffy. Sift in the icing sugar, and whip for 5 minutes until the sugar is fully combined and the icing is light. You will need to occasionally scrap down the bowl with a spatula.

Fit a piping bag with the Wilton 1M tip. Spoon in your icing. Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle to the cupcake, and pipe in a circle, starting from the outside of the muffin, finishing in the middle. Drizzle the cupcakes with the caramel sauce, and sprinkle over the hazelnuts to finish.

Enjoy!!