Green Beer Cupcakes

The first time I heard the words Green beer was a couple years ago while watching the Real World. Yes, I admit it, I watch The Real World. It's one of those shows that I don't tell people I watch, kind of a guilty pleasure. Anyways, it was St. Patricks Day and the guy had said something about how all of his friends back home would drink green beer all day, starting at 5 a.m.

When I was thinking a month or two ago about what St. Patricks Day cupcakes I wanted to make, all I kept finding was green velvet cupcakes or Irish car bomb cupcakes. So the wheels in my head started turning and I thought back to that episode of Real World and decided I was going to make a green beer cupcake for the green holiday.

I wanted the cupcake to taste like beer but keep its bright green color, which a stout beer couldn't do. So instead I used Blue Moon since it's a Belgian white beer, which I also used for the buttercream, which oh my word, I could of sworn I was in heaven.

Definitely tastes like beer but with a little sweetness to it. I think if I make this frosting again I'm going to add a tablespoon of flour (I know that sounds kind of odd in the frosting) but it's supposed to help bind it together more and the frosting is on the softer side.

I adapted Bakerella's Green Velvet Cupcakes to green beer cupcakes and I adapted the buttercream recipe from here. 

Green Beer Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup beer
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 bottle liquid green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix liquid ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, and add wet ingredients, whisk together. 

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Let sit in the pan for 10 minutes then remove cupcakes and let fully cool on a cooling rack. 

Beer Buttercream

1 stick butter

3-5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup beer

Cream the butter and slowly start adding in the powdered sugar. Pour in the beer and fully fix then continue to add powdered sugar until light and fluffy.