guinness cupcakes with bailey's irish cream frosting

I have long been a fan of Irish things. I think it all started with a tube of green lipstick Mom bought me for St. Patrick's Day one year, and a pair of shamrock earrings she would break out just in time for the holiday. When I went to Notre Dame, my fascination with all-things-Irish really took off. Every square inch of my dorm room that wasn't plastered with the Notre Dame logo was instead covered with shamrocks. (My favorite things, of course, were those that had BOTH.) I can't say that my love of shamrocks has diminished much since then. Though I've adopted a more adult decorating scheme, I still delight in many of my Irish-themed items. I proudly sport what might be the world's largest collection of Irish pajamas and socks all year round (because who else even has a collection?) and I smile gleefully at any opportunity to use my shamrock sprinkles.


Like now. Way back when I made these cupcakes, my friend Amy recommended that I try the chocolate stout cupcakes from the same book. I may just now be getting around to it, but with St. Patrick's Day practically upon us, the timing couldn't be better. And since I think there is never too much of a good Irish thing, I paired the cupcakes with a Bailey's Irish Cream frosting. Completely delicious -- as in, so delicious I ate one for breakfast. The cupcake batter is insanely good, and since it doesn't contain eggs, you eat it without catching some sort of egg-born illness. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on how many baked cupcakes you actually hope to end up with. You should probably estimate that you, like me, will eat 1/4 of the batter before any of those cupcakes hit the oven....

[Please note that while the cupcakes are vegan-friendly, the frosting is not. Also, if you want to frost your cupcakes with big swirls like I did, you'll need to triple the frosting recipe below.]

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes
Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
3/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Guinness
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting
A Dulcedo original
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
2-3 cups confectioners' sugar

To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the soy milk and the vinegar. Add the Guinness, sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and beat until well incorporated.

Fill your cupcakes containers of choice 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched. Transfer to a wire rack and allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:
Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the Bailey's and half of the confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth. Add the second half of the sugar and beat until smooth.