Get Your Stout This Summer — in Cupcakes!

Summer’s heat gives lighter beer an unfair amount of attention, but no longer! Celebrate your love of dark beer all year long with these incredible “City of the Dead” Stout Cupcakes. This recipe is almost too good to share. Flag it immediately, and thank us when it becomes your go-to dessert for entertaining. Picnics, BBQs, potlucks, dinner parties, breakfast!?… the opportunities to make these drool-worthy cupcakes are endless. Not for the faint of heart, these cupcakes are made with two kinds of coffee-infused Stout beer, Modern Times’ City of the Dead Nitro and Black House, cream cheese Nitro vanilla bean frosting, and crunchy maple bacon.

Modern Times’ Black House oatmeal coffee Stout is a perfect addition to the rich chocolate cake batter with hints of their house-roasted coffee beans. And for those that daydream during the summer months of the frothy, micro foam cresting atop a cappuccino or freshly poured Nitro beer, we got that covered too. We throw City of the Dead Nitro Stout (brewed with house-made bourbon barrel-aged coffee) by the spoonful into a luscious vanilla cream cheese frosting to give you all that froth appeal without the mustache.  Complete with with hints of cocoa nibs, almonds and sea salt, this beer takes the cake for a sophisticated cupcake topper and tastes like liquid s’mores. Yes, we’re way ahead of you — wash a cupcake down with this beer and witness the Magic. Dead serious.

Warning: Made for Sharing

Whip up a batch of these stout cupcakes for your next party! We made them for July 4th and they are perfect for a crowd. Prepare for them to be snatched up, crumbs flying, and for people to ask for thirds to take home. Just remember to set aside one before serving or else you might miss out. Have fun and enjoy some great (Stout) beer this summer. Eat responsibly!

Print Recipe

"City of the Dead" Stout Cupcakes

Moist chocolate cupcakes infused with coffee Stout beer and topped with cream cheese frosting and crunchy maple bacon

Course

Desserts

Cuisine

Desserts

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Passive Time

30 minutes

Servings

cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted, 1 stick
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Modern Times Black House Stout*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 4 Tbsp butter at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Seeds from ½ a Vanilla bean split and scraped out
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp Modern Times City of the Dead Nitro Stout*

Maple Bacon Garnish

• 6 ounces Uncured bacon thick slices
• 4 Tbsp maple syrup

Course Desserts Cuisine Desserts Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Passive Time 30 minutes Servings cupcakes Ingredients Cupcakes 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/4 cups sugar 3/4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted, 1 stick 2 large eggs 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Modern Times Black House Stout* 1 tsp vanilla extract Frosting 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature 4 Tbsp butter at room temperature 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Seeds from ½ a Vanilla bean split and scraped out 4 cups powdered sugar 3 Tbsp Modern Times City of the Dead Nitro Stout* Maple Bacon Garnish 6 ounces Uncured bacon thick slices 4 Tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or baking rack, and lay down slices of bacon to fit. Use a pastry brush to coat both sides of bacon with maple syrup. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking and flipping half way through. Bacon should be crispy and dark around edges. Set aside to cool on paper towels.
2. Lower oven to 350°F. Line 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, stout beer, and vanilla extract. (If the butter gets too cold and it separates, use a double boiler, setting the bowl on top, and whisk to heat just until it comes together again.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry in batches, beating with a standing or hand-held mixer on medium speed until the batter is smooth and shiny, about 20 seconds. Pour into the cupcake molds, filling about ¾ of the mold, and bake for 20-25 minutes. It is ready if you test with a toothpick and it comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
4. While the cupcakes are in the oven, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, use a mixer to blend together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and vanilla bean seeds. Add one tablespoon at a time of stout beer, mixing between additions. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing well until it’s all incorporated. Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes if it is very soft (not too long or it will harden).
5. Frost the cupcakes by scooping the frosting into a piping bag with a large star tip. Swirl the frosting around the cupcake, starting from the middle and working your way outwards. Continue to spiral the frosting up like a pyramid until the cupcake is frosted.
6. Cut bacon into one-inch pieces and use as garnish

Recipe Notes

Notes If not using bacon, cocoa nibs would be a nice substitute, accentuating the somewhat bitter cocoa/coffee flavors in the stout beers

*Or any of your favorite stout beers!

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