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I’m guessing that you have caught on to the fact that I am not a big fan of beer; however, toss in some sugar and chocolate and I am all about it. These espresso stout cupcakes were inspired by an actual bottle of espresso stout beer I found at my local market.
Although it was $4.99 a bottle, I thought it would be the perfect addition to Stout Week and immediately placed it into my cart. Before baking the cupcakes, I had my buddy, Corey, taste a small sip of the beer to find out if the espresso note was detectable. He concluded that although it was slightly noticeable, it was definitely not overpowering.
I pumped up the espresso factor by adding instant espresso granules to the batter. Espresso acts to intensify the flavors of cocoa and stout, without overwhelming.
I gave the cupcakes a quick dip in a pool of glossy ganache, but they still needed a little something. Sifting through my collection of cupcake decor, I had a moment of brilliance (however fleeting!) and remembered the bag of dark chocolate covered pretzels I’d stashed (read: hidden from myself) in the pantry.
Seriously, what goes better with beer than PRETZELS?[/donotprint]
Stout Cupcakes with chocolate covered pretzels
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes
1 (12-ounce) bottle stout (I used espresso stout)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso granules dissolved in two teaspoons warm water
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
For the Ganache
12 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate; chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Finishing Touches
Chopped chocolate covered pretzel twists
Fine grain sea salt
Directions:
For the cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the stout, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and espresso.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Add in the sour cream and mix until combined.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, and baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the stout mixture. Batter will be thin.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until risen and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool completely on wire rack.
For the Ganache
1. Place chocolate in a large heat safe bowl. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium heat until it just begins to boil. DO NOT walk away from the stove. The cream could boil over and you will be with a big mess to clean up.
3. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate and let it sit for five minutes.
4. Begin stirring the cream with a wooden spoon or whisk starting in the center of the bowl and working your way outward. As you stir, you will see the cream and chocolate come together. Allow your ganache to cool for 15 minutes and stir in vanilla. Let ganache sit at room temperature for another 3-45 minutes before topping cupcakes.
To decorate cupcakes
Invert the top of the cupcake into the bowl of cooled ganache, use a spoon or offset spatula to spread evenly. Finish cupcakes with chopped chocolate covered pretzels and a tiny pinch of fine grain sea salt.
Notes:
- Cupcakes are best served the day they are made due to the fact that the pretzels will soften overnight.
- adapted from Dave Lieberman
Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
Hello!
Quick question – how full do you fill each cupcake cup with batter before baking?
Thank you!
Lauren-
You can fill each about 3/4 full. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
The flavor of these cakes are to die for! I subbed out the ganache fir a Maggie cream cheese frosting and bacon and good Lord it’s heavenly.
My only question is they were quite dense and didn’t rise. I’m fairly new to baking, but this is the first time I’ve ever had that happen! What did I do wrong?
Either way, I’d give then another shot. They are unbelievably good. Nom nom nom!
D’Arcie, I’m not sure why they didn’t rise. It’s pretty impossible to diagnose a baking problem over the internet, but I would check to make sure that all your baking ingredients are fresh.
– Jamie
has anyone tried these with whole wheat flour? that’s all I have in my pantry
Come on guys…how am I going to May my NewYears Resolution ( annual lie to myself that I will curb my addiction to all things delicious ), while seeing things like this. I can’t wait to try this. I hate beer of any kind though, can you taste it when baking with it?
Erica, when you bake with alcohol, the actual “alcohol” cooks off, leaving only the base flavors of the beverage. When it comes to stout, it’s quite chocolatey, so that’s what you’d taste.
– Jamie
If I wanted to use butter instead of vegetable oil would it be an equal amount?
Brigid, it would need to be an equal amount of melted butter.
– Jamie
The Espresso stout cupcakes are AMAZING!! Well…I *think* they’re going to be amazing anyway. I haven’t actually baked them yet…I filled up the cupcake liners and then tasted the batter. Hopefully the 12 of them in the oven will be enough for hubby’s bday tonight cause I just looked down and the bowl is empty….whoops. I wasn’t able to find espresso stout so I substituted a dark chocolate infused stout, and also replaced the espresso grounds with some super strong instant coffee (couldn’t find espresso grounds either, at the only store in a 30 mile radius of my house). Still pretty freaking amazing, thank you…he may love me now but he’s going to be crazy about me when he tastes these babys!
Brandi-
You’re substitutions sound wonderful, I hope they were a hit. Stop back and let us know! Have a fantastic day and thank you for following MBA!
-Jamie
Just made these for my husband’s birthday. They are amazing! The cupcake is so moist and chocolaty with the kick of espresso. I left off the pretzels because I knew he wouldn’t like that part. I would totally make these again! Thanks for the great recipe!
I was wondering what you thought about removing the expresso granules. I am not a huge fan, but have a bottle of Chocolate stout that has minor notes of coffee already. Could I just add 2 tbsp of water instead of mixing it with the granules?
Mary-
I haven’t tried this recipe without the expresso, but I’m sure that it’s not necessary. Stop back and let us know how it turns out – have a great day!
-Jamie
[So crazy that a Simone was the last one to make a comment!]
My boyfriend is a dark beer drinker and loves Stout and Porter. So when I was perusing your recipes and found this I knew I had to make them. I made them last night and I must say that the presentation of these are absolutely wonderful!! I never seem to get my ganache right but last night, it was PERFECT. I can’t say that Stout cupcakes are going down as my favorite, but everyone who has tasted them enjoyed them. Such a fun recipe to try :]
Simone-
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for stopping by and providing your feedback – have a great day!
-Jamie
I might have unwillingly entered a double comment as I was in the middle and then something went wrong… Anyway, I was saying that I don’t really like beer either but these cupcakes look totally amazing and I’m thinking they would go down with the guys even better then usual!