"Fighting" Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

I made these for solely for my husband.  Not because he likes to hang out at the local pub dropping shot glasses full of Irish whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream into an almost full pint of Guinness and chugging them.  He's almost 60 for the love.  And while he loves him some Bailey's he's not much into whiskey or chewing his beer Guinness.  Nope.  

Bless his heart, he grew up in South Bend, Indiana about 14 blocks from Notre Dame and he's a Fighting Irish fan.  Most (all) of our marriage, he's been an extremely frustrated Irish fan.  There was that one year, 2005 season I believe, where they were pretty decent but then they got matched up against my team in the Fiesta Bowl and this happened........

But since then, it's not been all that pleasant.

Until this year.  And frankly, no one thought this year would be any different.  They weren't even ranked in any of the preseason polls.  And the schedule looked brutal.  The "experts" all said there was no way they could run that table.  Would never go into Oklahoma at night and win that one.  Oopsy.  Then it took them three overtimes to beat Pittsburgh so there was no way they could take down USC in the Coliseum.  This expert was so sure they couldn't do it he offered to shine their helmets if they, by some miracle, pulled the unthinkable.  Another oopsy.

And now, no one is giving them a chance on January 7.  As hubs likes to say....."That's why they actually play the game."

So I made these for him.  They're everything he likes.....a really moist, chocolatey cupcake with a ganache filling and a Bailey's buttercream frosting.

Don't worry if you don't like Guinness.  I couldn't even taste it.  Pretty much ditto with the whiskey in the ganache.  I only added a tablespoon because I was afraid these would become a booze bomb, but it's pretty much indistinguishable.  If you want to taste it, I suggest added a little more than a tablespoon.

However, where I wanted to taste the booze, I did.  The Bailey's buttercream is amazing and the perfect counterpart to the abundantly chocolate cupcake.  These are really, really good.

So make these even if you're not a die hard Domer.  Even if you are gonna root for that other team on January 7 in Miami.  Make them if you like whiskey or Guinness or Baileys.  Hell make them if you think Liam Neeson is a total bad ass.  Just make them.

On a side note, if you do decide to make them, your kitchen may end up looking like mine.  Kinda like an Irish Car Bomb actually went off in it.  Just sayin.

I found the recipe over at Smitten Kitchen.  Click here.  While hers might look better than mine, (I really need to take a cake decorating class!)  I'm sure they don't taste better!!

Love you, Hubs.  And since my beloved Buckeyes are in a timeout this bowl season, Go Irish!!