How a Pregnant Woman Gets Drunk

One of the drawbacks to being pregnant is not being able to drink. Now I'm not one that drinks a lot but I do appreciate a good glass of wine with my dinner or a margarita on a Friday night. I haven't missed drinking that much, but there are days where I wish I could have a glass of something. There are also days where Alex has a cold beer and says "I wish you could taste this." That jerk! Instead of drinking liquor the normal way I've taken to adding it to things I eat. I figure the cooking/baking process zaps out all the bad stuff and leaves the flavoring behind. And if that's not the case, then that's what I tell myself so I don't feel guilty about consuming foods with alcohol in them.

I have seen a ton of recipes that include beer as one of the ingredients and I have always been curious about the taste. My biggest concern was whether there would be an overwhelming bitter taste. I decided on this recipe and decided to make cupcakes because the last time I made cupcakes was back in April (!!!!!!). I topped mine with a Kahlua topping. The recipe is for a ganache but if you whip it enough you'll get a thicker consistency. The end product was delicious! The cupcake is light and chocolaty and it has an interesting taste. Not interesting in a bad way, but interesting in the way that lets you know there is something special about the cake. And the topping?? Holy cow is it sinful. The Kahlua topping goes amazingly well with the cupcake.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Source: South in Your Mouth (here)

This is the whole recipe, halving it will yield about 15 cupcakes.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup Guinness Beer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl, combine the sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, and beer.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.

Pour the batter into the cupcake cavities between 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.

Frost and enjoy!

For Kahlua topping recipe, go here.

And now, the lifespan of a cupcake in 4 words:

Wrapped.

Unwrapped.Naked.

Bitten.