" . . . because, without beer . . .

things don't seem to go as well . . ."

The above quote is attributed to Brother Epp, a beer-brewing monk who lived in Kansas in the early 1900s. Once national prohibition hit, his monastery was forced to quit brewing their beloved ale, and Brother Epp famously wondered how they would keep toiling through the sweltering Kansas summers without beer to help them along.

Brother Epp's words are especially appropriate when it comes to Dave Lieberman's Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. I made these last night to disperse some pre-interview nervous energy (I think it went great, btw!).

Technically, things didn't go that great: my butter solidified upon being doused with some slightly-cooler-than-room-temperature stout, then I splattered the watery batter everywhere, then there was the wonky cup incident. Oy, what messes I made!

But these things happen. The most important thing is that I had bought an extra bottle of Boulevard Dry Stout to drink during the baking process, so then it felt like things were going better than they really were.

But at the end of the day, the cupcakes turned out good. They were, of course, chocolaty (they took 3/4 cup cocoa powder, for goodness sake!), but the stout gave the cakes a slight beery bitterness, making them taste like they were made with dark chocolate instead of cocoa powder. And the frosting--oh, goodness, the frosting!--turned out to be so, so good. It combines the mild tanginess of cream cheese with the puffy mildness of fresh whipped cream.

Even without all the deliciousness, aren't these a great idea? They're like delectable little Irish car bombs, only without the alcoholic bomb part: the cake is the Guiness and the frosting stands in for the Bailey's and the whiskey. And while the frosting may be (slightly) less hazardous to your health than hard liquor, I'm pretty sure that it's just as addicting.

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Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Recipe by Dave Lieberman

Originally posted on FoodNetwork.com

Cake Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting finished cupcakes
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch fine salt
1 bottle stout beer*
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

Icing Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream**
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

Directions for Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla.*** Beat in eggs, one at time. Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.

Lightly grease 24 muffin tins. Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans.**** Bake another 12 to 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out.

Directions for Icing
In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream.***** On low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered and chilled.

Top each cupcake with a heap of frosting and dust with cocoa.******

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*Be sure the beer is room temperature!

**Go light on the heavy cream. The recipe makes a ton of frosting, so you can skimp a little on the cream, leaving less liquid for the powdered sugar to soak up.

***Since my butter solidified (which is not uncommon, based on the FoodNetwork.com comments), it might be best to gently beat the butter, vanilla, and eggs together first before adding the stout.

****Mine only took about 15 minutes per pan, and rotating the pan did nothing for my cupcakes. Unless your oven is prone to creating lumpy, misshapen cakes, you can skip the rotating step. 

*****Be sure to beat the cream cheese for awhile to get it fluffy, and then to beat the heavy cream for awhile more after it's been added. You want this mix to be as fluffy as possible, since the powdered sugar actually makes the mixture more drizzly as you add it.

******I apologize for my excessive use of asterisks. They were uncalled for.