Flours and Fudge: Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Stout Cupcakes

In a previous post this week, this one about the honey and beer chicken, I showed 3 different bottles of beer that I purchased for making that dish. One was the winner and the other two were going to be used for other recipes. Well, the hazelnut brown nectar ale didn't last. Dan drank that the other night. The gingerbread stout survived. I was going to use it to make my shepherd's pie with stout gravy , but I forgot that I'm going to Boston to see a play tomorrow, so I may not get time to make it. And the stout gravy that goes with it, is seriously the best gravy ever. I would drink it if I could, by the gallon. I always choose a different stout each time I make it, and it's delicious every time. My favorite so far is the milk stout I used once.

Anyways, I was going to make some honey hazelnut cupcakes to begin with, and then I bought that hazelnut brown nectar ale, so I thought to myself, "Boozy cupcakes instead of virgin cupcakes?!". Well, the ale disappeared. That didn't stop me though. I then thought to myself, "Gingerbread stout cupcakes, with some chocolate chunks perhaps?!" And so, these cupcakes were born. I even stuck with the honey buttercream I had planned to make. Gingerbread and honey go together well, right? The answer to that is: they do. I know this, because I baked these chocolate chunk gingerbread stout cupcakes and topped them with honey buttercream, and even a drizzle of honey for good measure.

These cupcakes almost didn't happen though. Dan and I started our day with a nice sleeping in (love when I get to do that) and then ran a whole bunch of errands. We needed breakfast, truck parts, a trip to the bank, Petco to exchange the broken remote control collar we bought for Lana, and some S hooks for the dogs new ID tags we bought. Tess is staying with my parents (which she does a couple nights a week because my parents can't go that long without seeing her), so Dan, Lana and I set out for our Saturday adventure. We got some coffee (breakfast), went to the bank and then headed to Petco. Lana was lucky enough that my friend was working in the grooming room, so she got a free nail treatment. She also met several other dogs and was howling up a storm. We grabbed some treats, a new collar and newly engraved ID tags for the dogs and headed home. We ordered some lunch and shortly after lunch my day headed downhill. I get chronic migraines, which are becoming more frequent lately. I can always tell when a dull headache is going to become a migraine, and today was one of those time. Off went the lights, off went the TV, and my afternoon/early evening was spent laying in the quiet darkness. I would say that 50% of the time, when I start recovering from a migraine I either get a surge of energy for a while before I crash again, or I just lay like a slug, feeling like I got hit by a truck for the rest of the night.

I got a surge of energy and these cupcakes came to be. Now that you've had a recap of my day (and my health), I bet you want the recipe. I bet you want to know how good these came out. This is another doctored box mix, which may have been while I was able to throw them together. Just a box of cake mix and the ingredients it called for (eggs, oil and water). Except, I replaced the water with stout. Voila!

Yup. They taste as good as they look!

Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Stout Cupcakes w/ Honey Buttercream
from me and the frosting idea from Half Baked Harvest
made 22 cupcakes

1 box yellow or white cake mix (I had a sugar free yellow mix)
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 cup stout (I used Sam Adams Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout)
1 to 1.5 cups chocolate chunks

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey
3-4 cups powdered sugar
4-5 tablespoons of heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 325 and line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and stout. Beat for 2 minutes until smooth and combined.
3. Fold in chocolate chunks. Divide into cupcake liners and bake for 20-22 minutes. Let fully cool.
4. To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, vanilla and honey until smooth and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup a time, starting with the mixer on very low speed. Once the sugar is slightly combined, you can increase the speed. If you don't start on low speed, you'll get sugar everywhere (trust me!).
5. To get the desired consistency you want, add cream, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is the way you want it. I used 5 tbsp for a smoother, creamier frosting. It was still pretty thick though.

Let me tell you, these are fantastic! As they were baking you could smell the gingerbread. The stout itself has a slight and bitter gingerbread taste (in my opinion, but I am no stout expert). When they came out, it was a warm waft of gingerbread with a big kick of beer aroma. I didn't mind it one bit. The frosting is very sweet due to the honey on top of the sugar, but it paired up very well with the gingerbread cake. The bitterness of the stout off-set the sweetness of the frosting, and the chocolate just gave a nice extra flavor. You can taste all of the different flavors as you eat it, and they go lovely together. The drizzle of honey on top is the icing on the cake (literally).

Cheers!