Irish Car Bomb Twinkies®

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Irish Car Bomb "Twinkies" are the perfect end to your corn beef and cabbage celebration!  These are made very similar to the cupcake varieties that you see on the internet with some adaptations:  chocolate stout cake with a creamy chocolate whiskey filling and topped with an Irish cream glaze.  A little bit dressed up and  little bit down home. 

I've had these on my baking bucket list for a long, long time.  I had wanted to make the cupcake version, but when Hostess announced that they would be closing up shop on Twinkies, I had to get the pan to make homemade Twinkies.  The pan is called a "cream boat" pan.  So, technically, these are Irish Car Bomb Cream Boats.  No copyright issues there...And, if you remember, Jacqueline posted her delicious version of Grown Up Twinkies with Rum a while back, too.

Moist chocolate cake that holds its shape well and can handle the filling of chocolate whiskey marshmallow cream. Lots of great chocolate flavor in this beauties.  Once these are filled, they are topped with a Irish cream glaze.  Booze of choice for these are Tullamore D.E.W. (no surprise!), Baileys Irish Cream and Bison Organic Chocolate Stout.  Irish all around and I wouldn't do these any other way.  

This was sort of a trial and error process for me.  I tried to cheat and didn't prepare the pans with shortening and flour.  Well, I sure learned my lesson and now have 14 'rejects.'  Not very pretty but taste great.  Good news is that the second attempt was a success.  So, if you try these, prepare your pans the old-fashioned way or you will have lots and lots of chocolate cake crumbs to make some trifle or cake pops.

Trial and error aside, I will make these again.  Now I know all their secrets and am excited to try different versions of Twinkies for adults!  

Hope your St. Patrick's Day is grand!  

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Irish Car Bomb Twinkies®

Makes 8 cakelets

[Note: I doubled this complete recipe with great success.  Only 8 cakelets can be baked at a time.  The batter is stable at room temperature between batches.  Also, you must grease and flour this pan or you will only yield crumbs.  Trust me.]

Cakelets

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp fine salt

8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted

2/3 cup Stout, heated to boiling (microwave is fine)

Chocolate Whiskey Filling

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature

3/4 confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted

7 oz marshmallow cream (1 jar)

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp Tullamore D.E.W. (or other Irish whiskey)

Irish Cream Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp salted butter, melted

3 tbsp Baileys (or other Irish cream)

1 tbsp cream or milk (more if needed)

Sprinkles, optional

Directions

To make the cakelets

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously grease and flour an 8-well cream boat pan (an absolute must, do not use cooking spray).

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.  In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, egg and vanilla and set aside.

3. In a large bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or use a large bowl and whisk), whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk in the boiling stout and mix well; then whisk in the butter mixture. Add the flour mixture in two additions, whisking until smooth with no lumps of flour between additions.  The batter will be very runny.

4. Divide the batter, into the prepared pan, among the wells to about 1/2 inch from the top of each well. It’s about 4 ounces for each cakelet well.  

5. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the cakelets spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cakelets cool for 10 minutes. Invert the pan onto the rack, gently tap the pan bottom and lift off the pan. Let the cakelets cool completely.

To make the chocolate whiskey filling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa until light and well combined, about 3 minutes.  

2. Add the marshmallow cream, vanilla and whiskey.  Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. 

3. Place the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a Bismark tip.  Turn the cakelets upside down. Insert the tip 1 inch into the bottom of a cakelet. Gently squeeze the filling into the cakelet while slowly withdrawing the tip. Repeat in two more places along the bottom. 

4. Turn the cakelet over so that the filling holes are on the underside and place on a wire rack that fits into a sheet pan (lined with parchment paper). Repeat with the remaining cakelets and filling. Refrigerate while you make the glaze.

To make the Irish cream glaze

In a medium bowl using a small whisk or spoon, combine the glaze ingredients and mix until smooth.  Add more cream as needed to achieve a thick and runny consistency.  With a spoon, pour the glaze over each cakelet allowing the glaze to run down the sides.  Decorate as desired.  These can be kept at room temperature for a few days, then refrigerate if needed.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen for chocolate cream boat cakelets.

Cheers to you all!

Ellen