Brewfest Cupcakes

In honor of our fifth anniversary at Brewfest, I felt compelled to develop a cupcake baked with beer as our dessert to accompany the nacho tradition. I came across a recipe for cupcakes that originally called for Guinness. I substituted a nice dark Leinenkugel beer, Fireside Nut Brown. The cupcakes fell a bit flat (and most were overfilled), but the flavor outweighed the flaws. They didn't taste like beer, but the beer definitely brought out the chocolate flavor.

Brewfest Cupcakes
1 cup Fireside Nut Brown
1 stick, plus 1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line cupcake tins with wrappers.

Combine beer and butter over low heat until the butter is melted. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Combine this mixture with the beer mixture.

In separate bowl, sift together flour and baking soda. Fold the flour into the wet ingredients. Fill cupcake liners approximately 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, and remove from tins. Cool completely on wire racks. Makes approximately 30 cupcakes. Frost once completely cooled.

Cream Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
4 Tbsp. heavy cream

Beat together powdered sugar and butter. Slowly add heavy cream until desired texture is reached. This makes a thicker frosting.

Note: I used chocolates for making candy to make mini pint glasses of beer for the tops of cupcakes. Fun touch, although they aren't perfect.