All Sorts of Irish Whoopie Pies

For the past few years I have made Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes for a friends St. Patrick's Day party. If I must say so myself, they are always a hit. Whats not to like? Guinness Stout and Chocolate Cupcake? Yum.... Irish Whiskey Ganache Filling? More Yum.... Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting? Stop. Drool. I can't go on....

The first year I made them someone remarked that they were offended by the name, "Really, Shelly that's not very sensitive of you to name them Irish Car Bombs". For the record I am not trying to offend anyone or back any sort of political organization with baked goods. They were named after a cocktail. I didn't do the naming.

Moving here I aimed to keep up the tradition. The baking, not the offending that is. While there haven't been any St. Patty's Day parties (that I was invited to at least) it is the day before our Spring Break, and I think people might need a little sweet to get them through the day. Okay, maybe they need a little booze with some sweet to get them through the day. I wasn't feeling the cupcakes this year, so instead of making cupcakes, I translated the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake into a Whoopie Pie.

Guinness Stout and Chocolate Cupcake = Irish Stout, Chocolate, and Coffee Whoopie Pie
Irish Whiskey Ganache filling = The same
Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting = The same

Very insensitive I know.

I made a very, VERY, large amount of Whoopie Pies. Halve the recipe if you aren't very hungry, or if you're not sharing.

Irish Stout Whoopie Pies with Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream Buttercream Filling
AKA Irish Car Bomb Whoopie Pies
adapted from Endless Simmer
For the whoopie pies:
5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoon espresso powder
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
2 egg
1 cup Irish Stout Beer
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter
For the ganache:
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup Irish Whiskey
For the buttercream:
3 cups of butter at room temperature
8 cups of icing sugar
1/3 cup Irish Cream Liqueur

For the ganache filling:

In a saucepan bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Immediately turn off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes. Stir the chocolate and cream until very smooth. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

For the whoopie pie:

Preheat the oven to 350. In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt and then set aside. In another mixing bowl whisk together the sour cream, milk and baking soda and then set aside. In another mixing bowl whisk together the egg, beer, and vanilla and then set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beer mixture and blend. At this point the batter will look horrid and you'll be tempted to toss it. Hang in there.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture in three additions beginning with the flour.
Place the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.  Pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds of batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Space the pies 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer the pies to a rack to cool completely.

For the buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the icing sugar and beat on low speed until the butter and sugar are combined. The mixture will be very thick. Add the Irish Cream and beat until very smooth.

To assemble:
Turn all the pies over and match them up according to sizes.  On one side of a pie spread a nice amount of the Irish Cream Buttercream. I used about 2-3 tablespoons depending on the size of the pie. Don't be stingy now. On top of this add 1 teaspoon of the Irish Whiskey Ganache and then top with a second pie.
Makes approximately 4 1/2 -5 dozen whoopie pies.
They don't hold well so it's best that they are eaten the same day they are made.