Despite the addition of Guinness, these cakes are not at all bitter; instead, the beer adds richness and moisture, and balances the sweetness of the sugar. Working from another Nigella recipe, this one the Guinness Cake from Feast, I substituted brown sugar for white to add depth of flavor, and made tiny cakes instead of a large one in a springform. Topped with a cream cheese glaze, these are a crowd-pleasing, not-too-sweet dessert (and, if you call them muffins instead of cupcakes, and play up the beer angle, you can easily pass them off to guys). They’re also super-easy.
Cake
- 1 cup Guinness
- 1 stick, plus 1 tb, unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 tb vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
Glaze*
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350; butter a muffin tin.
Combine the Guinness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold into the batter. Pour into muffin molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from muffin tin, and cool completely on a rack.
Using a mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth, sift in sugar, and beat. Add milk, and beat until smooth. Spread glaze over cooled cupcakes.
*To create a thinner glaze, use a tablespoon or two more milk; for a topping more akin to icing, use less milk, and perhaps more sugar. In either case, add a little sugar or milk at a time, mix, and check for desired consistency.

Comments 52
Can you taste any of the beer at all?
Posted 12 Jul 2007 at 7:37 am ¶If you really want to enhance the beer flavor use beer in the frosting instead of milk.
Posted 21 Jul 2007 at 9:15 am ¶Oh my goodness…
This will be my staple for all cupcakes.
Never in my life had I had I made such a perfect cupcake in my life…not too sweet at all!
So moist and so easy to make!
Posted 23 Jul 2007 at 11:47 pm ¶Sounds delicious! But I am from England so can you give the weight of butter used as we don’t have the term “stick” of butter.
Thank you.
Christopher
Posted 25 Jul 2007 at 6:46 pm ¶We don’t have “sticks of butter” in Australia either, and I’m wondering what it is.
Wolfie!
Posted 25 Jul 2007 at 10:52 pm ¶1 stick of butter equals 1/4 pound, or 8 tablespoons. I hope this helps!
Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 12:00 am ¶Looks so perfect and yummy…thanks
Srivalli
Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 6:43 am ¶http://www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com
A “stick” of butter equals 113 grams.
Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 11:09 am ¶I just made these based on your recipe. They turned out amazing. You can taste the beer but it really adds a nice subtle flavor. This recipe is awesome. Thanks!
Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 1:35 pm ¶Gena,
Posted 27 Jul 2007 at 10:40 am ¶We are working on a new website called Behind the Beer that features interesting stories about people in the craft brewing industry or people who are uniquely inspired by beer. I tried your recipe last night and the cupcakes are amazing! I would love to chat with you regarding your interest in beer and cooking and possibly reprint the recipe on our site. Please contact me to discuss the options. And, most of all, keep up the great work!
Melissa
My favorite mag, imbibe magazine, had a similar recipe in their Nov/Dec 2006 issue for Guinness cupcakes. So delicious. I made them for a holiday party and I was lucky to get one, people gobbled them up so fast!
Posted 27 Jul 2007 at 1:56 pm ¶These cupcakes were gone in a flash! So many good comments about them. They will be a favorite in my clan, that’s for sure!
Posted 28 Jul 2007 at 1:18 am ¶Thanks for the recipe.
I stumbled upon this site quite by accident. But this cupcake looks absolutely yummy! I will add this to my ‘tastebuds’ collection.
Posted 29 Jul 2007 at 9:15 pm ¶Good stuff!!
Posted 01 Aug 2007 at 11:13 am ¶How many cupcakes did this recipe make?
Posted 07 Aug 2007 at 9:30 am ¶I made a double batch of these and wound up with about 60…
I would also, if I make them again, try bittersweet, and not unsweetened cocoa. They had a bite to them, but were delicious none-the-less. The glaze was great, and I had numerous comments that they were “the best cupcake” people ever had. So… that’s good enough for me!!
Thanks!
Posted 09 Aug 2007 at 12:42 pm ¶I just made these. They don’t seem to have much flavor.. I don’t know where i went wrong. The reviews made them sound so good.
Posted 26 Aug 2007 at 7:45 pm ¶Molly, you probably used a light beer. Use a beer with good flavor, perhaps a bock beer.
Posted 13 Sep 2007 at 6:27 pm ¶I have seen this recipe a lot. It’s a good recipe but skip the Guinness and use a better quality stout. Imperial stouts, coffee stouts, and chocolate stouts. Use Beeradvocate.com to help find the many varieties. Just be weary of using any stouts that are too bitter or hoppy.
Posted 18 Sep 2007 at 5:26 pm ¶So, I made these one afternoon for a potluck dinner. The dozen I brought disappeared in mere moments! Great success!
Posted 24 Sep 2007 at 10:17 am ¶whoever you are, i love you for this recipe. i’m also aware that a recipe is a poor foundation upon which to build a relationship, but there we are.
Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 9:28 pm ¶You should make a video tutorial of this recipe and post it on makemysupper.com. People will love to see how you make these cupcakes!
Posted 09 Oct 2007 at 1:38 am ¶Can children eat these?
Posted 20 Oct 2007 at 8:43 am ¶Well these are a winner with my crowd. Beer cupcakes – two of their favourites.
Will try them with a nice drop of draught beer to see how much it changes the taste.
Posted 01 Jan 2008 at 6:28 am ¶I just stumbled upon your site- it’s lovely! The beer cupcakes sound absolutely yummy. They’d be a fun dessert for Superbowl!
Lori
Posted 06 Jan 2008 at 7:55 pm ¶http://TheRecipeGirl.blogspot.com
Um, yes please!
Posted 07 Jan 2008 at 4:22 pm ¶These sound awesome.
I just made some beer cheese cupcakes. I modified your recipe to do it. Thanks for such a great recipe!
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/01/beer-cheese-cupcakes-with-bacon-cheddar.html
Posted 29 Jan 2008 at 7:45 pm ¶Hi there…
I have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for this recipe. My friend and I have been baking versions of this since October and it’s one of our favorites!
Recently we tried adding an extra 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and some chamboard to spice up the frosting and it was a huge hit.
Once again, thanks so much, and keep it up!
Posted 16 Feb 2008 at 1:28 am ¶These cupcakes look delicious! We are entertaining next weekend and instead doing the quick and easy pound cake with fruit I am going to give these a try!
Posted 24 Feb 2008 at 4:53 pm ¶I can remember my Aunty making Guiness cake, and it was absolutely amazing. I’m none too fond of stout, but in a cake it is the best thing… cannot wait to try these out this weekend. Thanks for the recipe
Posted 17 Mar 2008 at 5:44 pm ¶Buzz this article!!
Posted 17 Mar 2008 at 5:55 pm ¶http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/craft_magazine/http%253A%252F%252Fblog.craftzine.com%252Farchive%252F2008%252F03%252Fguinness_cupcakes.html
in question: Budweiser Select. What’s a sell-respecting beer drinking to do? Guiness cupcakes,
Posted 17 Mar 2008 at 10:14 pm ¶“Despite the addition of Guinness, these cakes are not at all bitter”
Seeing as how Guinness isn’t hardly bitter — one of its finer qualities — this sentence doesn’t make a lot of sense. Most dark-colored beers tend to be bitter, I’ll definitely grant, but not Guinness Extra Stout.
Looking forward to making these, thanks for the recipe.
Posted 18 Mar 2008 at 2:41 am ¶Yummy alternative: Combine all ingredients (including glaze) EXCEPT the Guinness in a brownie pan. Drink the cup of Guinness. Bake ‘brownie mix’ for 25 minutes at 350, then cool. Drink 2 more cups of Guinness. Slice ‘brownies’ into squares. Drink 1 pint of Guinness. Throw brownies away — way too sweet. Drink two more pints of Guinness and go to bed.
Posted 18 Mar 2008 at 11:19 pm ¶These are extraordinary! The only change I made was adding enough vanilla to the glaze to tint it the color of an actual Guinness head.
Posted 19 Mar 2008 at 6:31 pm ¶Try making these with Bailey’s liqueur-enhanced cream cheese icing and you’ve got a Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Yummy!
Posted 20 Mar 2008 at 6:38 pm ¶I just made these and they are delicious!!!! I will be making these all the time now!!!!
Posted 21 Mar 2008 at 6:22 pm ¶How many cupcakes does this recipe make?
Posted 21 Mar 2008 at 10:36 pm ¶These are simply amazing- very moist, dense little cakes with tons of flavor. I doctored the frosting a bit, adding a few tablespoons of butter and using about equal parts milk and guinness to thin it, which gave it a really distinctive flavor. I think the Bailey’s frosting sounds great too, I will try that next time
Posted 25 Mar 2008 at 1:17 pm ¶Absolutely brilliant Idea! Can’t wait to make this for the beau. thanks!
Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:42 am ¶has anyone tried to replace the sour cream with something else ? i am afraid it does mot exist here in Brazil.
Posted 26 Aug 2008 at 4:03 pm ¶Cool, I’ll have to try these out… You wouldn’t think beer would go in something sweet.
Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 4:14 am ¶Cupcakes are great, but the icing did not come out looking anything like the foamy frosting in the photo.
Posted 07 Oct 2008 at 4:03 pm ¶I have made these 2x w. this recipe & it is amazing! I use Young’s Double Chocolate Stout instead of Guinness and everyone LOVES the cupcakes.
Thank you!
Posted 17 Oct 2008 at 11:43 pm ¶I love this recipe, but I’d love to make a variation for my boyfriend who loves guinness but hates chocolate. Any suggestions for substitutions to make this less chocolate based? Thanks!
Posted 31 Dec 2008 at 11:15 pm ¶I added cinnamon to mine and it really perked it up!
Posted 08 Jan 2009 at 4:50 pm ¶Great recipe!
This came out dry. Next time I will use the glaze as a filling in the middle.
Posted 02 Feb 2009 at 11:09 am ¶these are fab — made ‘em with murphy’s and they were delicious!
Posted 17 Mar 2009 at 5:02 pm ¶“I love this recipe, but I’d love to make a variation for my boyfriend who loves guinness but hates chocolate. Any suggestions for substitutions to make this less chocolate based? Thanks!”
You could try subbing more flour for the cocoa. This will give you a beer flavoured white cake instead of a beer flavoured chocolate cake.
I’m really looking forward to trying this. It sounds awesome!
Posted 09 Apr 2009 at 10:53 am ¶Children can eat these, the alcohol will be mostly baked off. A little bit of stout is good for you anyway and really, there is more alcohol in a baby wipe than there is in a cup of stout baked into numerous muffins!
Posted 13 May 2009 at 11:03 am ¶Notes for high altitude bakers (over 5000 feet elevation)…I live in Denver, CO, and the 25 minute baking time was far too long. Try about 20 minutes or the bottoms come out burned. Also, if you want to use cupcake paper, the shorter baking time helps the cupcakes from sticking to the paper. I have about 1/2 a batch that is incredibly burned and one that is just right!
Posted 19 Jun 2009 at 1:39 am ¶Variety of very delicious dessert and food
Posted 20 Jun 2009 at 12:12 pm ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 54
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