Guinness Cupcakes with Floral Piping Tutorials

When your mother-in-law swoons over her birthday cake in June, you know you’ve set the bake-bar high… so for my grandmother-in-law’s 84th birthday, I had to brew up something just as special. Enter: my famous Guinness chocolate cupcakes topped with Baileys cream cheese frosting, piped into dreamy two-toned pink and white roses and hydrangeas. These little beauties are proof that beer and buttercream can live in perfect harmony…in a stout-standing flavor. I also say “famous” because for a solid 5 years when I was a newbie baker, all our friends requested this flavor for every one of their birthdays…I always surround myself with people that have good taste, what can I say.

But I’d like to think the real reason the family gathered back here in Albuquerque was not just to celebrate a milestone birthday, but also because everyone loved the strawberry cake so much back in June that they were back for seconds (delusions of grandeur, it turns out, also taste delicious). After the rave reviews from June’s cake, expectations were high, and these cupcakes rose (literally) to the occasion.

Jump to recipe and instructions

These cupcakes are as quick and easy as popping the cap off a bottle of Guinness—no endless mixing, no complicated steps, just pure baking bliss. In less time than it takes to watch the foam settle on a pint, you’ll have rich, chocolatey batter ready to roll. And for my fellow gluten-intolerant pals, here’s the brew-tiful news: Guinness Draught comes in at fewer than 20 parts per million of gluten. While it’s not celiac-safe, paired with a trusty gluten enzyme, it’s the perfect recipe for enjoying dessert without feeling like you’ve taken a hit from a heavyweight stout. The full recipe is below, but here is everything you need to decorate:

• Light pink gel dye
• One or two 2D piping tips
• One or two piping bags
• Angled spatula

Follow along below with both the photo and video tutorials to learn how to decorate!

Recipe and Instructions