Best Beer Cupcakes

Ingredients:

240ml beer of your choice
128g unsalted butter
96g cocoa powder
256g granulated sugar
85g sour cream
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 tbsp vanilla extract
256g plain flour
2 and 1/2 tsp baking soda

Buttercream:

300g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
40g cocoa powder, sifted
40ml milk
Few squares of milk chocolate, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by adding cupcake liners.

Pour the beer into a medium saucepan and add the butter. Set heat to low and allow the butter to melt in the beer.

Once the butter is melted, slowly whisk in the sugar until it has completely dissolved, then do the same with the cocoa powder.

Remove saucepan from heat and allow chocolate mixture to cool for at least 5 minutes.

In the meantime, sift together flour and baking soda in a small bowl, then set aside.

In a separate bowl blend together sour cream, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until combined.

Test that the chocolate mix is warm (not hot) to the touch, then slowly blend the chocolate with the sour cream and eggs.

Add the flour, one cup at a time, to the batter mix. Be careful not to over mix. Once combined, run a spatula around the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure there are no clumps. The batter will be watery but this is okay.

Add the cupcake mix to the prepared cupcake cases (about 3/4 full). Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.

Place muffin tin on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then pop cupcakes out and allow to finish cooling on the wire rack. Wait until cupcakes are completely cooled before applying the frosting.

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