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Cupcakes

¾ cup stout beer (we like using a chocolate

stout, but any stout will do)

¾ cup blackstrap molasses

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons ground ginger

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Frosting

1 recipe Italian Buttercream

Put It All Together

2 tablespoons toasted, chopped hazelnuts,

for garnish

a pinch of ground cardamom

8 eggs

1½ cups sugar

1/8 cup sunflower oil (you can also get fancy

and use toasted hazelnut oil)

2 cups sweet cherries, pitted and chopped

(don’t use pie cherries—they’re too bitter

and react badly with the taste of the stout)

1 cup toasted, chopped hazelnuts

HOW TO MAKE IT

Frosting Start the day before—Place the butter for the Italian Buttercream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. Let the butter melt and start to brown. Let the butter go to a caramel color, then remove it from the heat. Some bits of butter will stick to the bottom of the pan, but don’t waste these—they’re really tasty. Put the browned butter in the fridge to chill overnight. The next day, follow the directions for making the buttercream, using the browned butter, and mix in the hazelnuts.

Cupcakes Start the day before—Bring the stout and molasses to a boil together in a small soup pot. Do not stir the mixture or it will boil over. Once the mixture is boiling, remove the pot from the heat and mix in the baking soda. It will foam up—don’t be scared. Let the stout and molasses mixture sit to cool for a few minutes, then transfer it to your fridge and let it chill overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Place the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in a mixing bowl and mix together with a whisk. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and the molasses and stout mixture. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and silky. This is a very wet batter. Fold the cherries and hazelnuts into the batter. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cups in the cupcake pan about ¾ full and bake for about 15 minutes. The cupcake tops will rise a lot and become a bit crusty—this is normal.

Put It All Together Using a piping bag with a star tip, lightly frost the cooled cupcakes. I say lightly because the buttercream has a very solid flavor and you don’t want it to overpower the cupcake flavor. Top the cupcakes with the toasted, chopped hazelnuts.

LOVE KILLS

I can’t stand Valentine’s Day, but I am a HUGE Sex Pistols fan. So I made this cupcake for Valentine’s Day as a tribute to Sid Vicious in whiskey and chocolate.

Cupcakes

1 recipe Devil’s Food Cupcakes

1 cup whiskey

1 recipe Simple Syrup

Frosting

1 recipe French Meringue (page 32)

Ganache

½ recipe Ganache

½ cup whiskey

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cupcakes Prepare and bake the Devil’s Food Cupcakes according to the recipe directions. Add the whiskey to the simple syrup. When the cupcakes are hot from the oven, heavily soak them with the syrup.

Ganache Start the day before—Use only ½ cup cream. Make the ganache according to the recipe directions. Once the hot cream has been added to the chocolate, stir in the whiskey. Let the ganache set up overnight according to the recipe directions.

Frosting Prepare the French meringue according to the recipe directions.

Put It All Together With your index finger, poke holes through the tops of the cupcakes and fill them with whiskey ganache. In the microwave, melt the ganache left over from filling the cupcakes a little and dip the tops of the cupcakes in it. Put the cupcakes in the fridge for about 5 minutes so the ganache sets up. Using a piping bag with a star tip, put a huge spike of French meringue on top of each cupcake. If you have a crème brûlée torch, use it to toast the meringue. I also usually make a topper for these out of a small picture of Sid glued onto a toothpick.

ROSEWATER CHAMPAGNE

Using floral flavors