Raspberry Lambic Beer Cupcakes
Admittedly, I’ve never been much of a drinker which definitely changed after I started dating a semiprofessional Irish drinker. In the beginning, you could not pay me to drink me beer—that is until I was handed a Belgium Lambic. What kind self-respecting sugar addict would NOT like this sweet brew? That’s all it took to get me hooked. Lagers, ales, porters, stouts—dark, pale, whatever… I was on board. Not only did I begin to enjoy them but slowly began to CRAVE them. We may or may not have hit up the Guinness brewery at 10 in the morning (immediately following a nonstop day of traveling to Dublin and on no sleep).
So to kick off a trio of beer cupcake recipes (more to come in the next couple of weeks) is an ode to my gateway beer, a raspberry Lambic cupcake. These cupcakes turned out better than I could have hoped for. The cake is light, moist and surprisingly there is a fizziness/carbonated quality to them. The raspberry garnish also serves as a nice little cup for a sip of the beer.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup raspberry Lambic beer
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 10-15 fresh raspberries (more for garnish if desired)
- 2 tablespoons raspberry Lambic beer (or to taste/texture preference)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees
- Line 2 standard cupcake pans
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, whisk until smooth
- In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, set aside
- In a mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter until smooth
- Once the butter is smooth slowly add butter while continuing to mix
- Continue to cream the butter and sugar mixture until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), occasionally stopping to scrape the butter down the sides of the bowl
- Begin to add the eggs one tablespoon at a time, again stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat until smooth and the sugar has been fully incorporated (it shouldn’t be sandy in texture)
- By hand mix in about 1/4 of the dry mixture with a rubber spatula and then alternate with 1/3 of the beer mixture until completed
- Fill cups about 3/4ths full and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cake should be light and fluffy!
- Combine cream cheese and unsalted butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Whip until soft and creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time alternating with the raspberry Lambic beer until the frosting is your desired consistency. The more sugar you add the thicker/sweeter the frosting will be. Alternately, the more beer you add the thinner the frosting will be.
- Once you’ve reached your desired consistency on medium speed mix in all fresh raspberries – the mixer will break up the berries and speckle the frosting.
- Frost cupcakes and garnish with a fresh raspberry, I even put in a bit of the beer into the raspberry cavity!
