These chocolate whiskey cupcakes are rich chocolate Coca-Cola cupcakes filled with a chocolate Jack Daniel's whiskey ganache and topped with a creamy whiskey frosting. This boozy cupcake recipe is sure to be a hit at any party and is a fun way to add a little bit of adult flair to your typical tray of cupcakes.
Preheat oven to 350°F, and line 24 cupcake cups with aluminum liners (or use silicone cupcake holders). Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine Coke and butter and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar and whisk until sugars are dissolved and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes or so.
1 1/2 cups Coca-Cola, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add the cooled cocoa mixture from the saucepan and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
2 large eggs
Pour batter into cupcake liners, filling them 3/4 of the way (a large cookie scoop works great for this). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Whiskey Ganache
Place the chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl.
1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips
In a small saucepan, heat the cream until it's simmering, and then pour it over the chocolate in the heatproof bowl. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth.
1/3 cup heavy cream
Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool enough that it won't give you trouble when you place it in a piping bag.
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon Jack Daniels whiskey
Cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes - I used a small paring knife, but you could also use an apple corer or a cupcake plunger (if you're fancy schmancy and have one).
Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top. If you're like me and don't have a real piping bag, just put it in a plastic freezer bag and cut off a small corner.
Whiskey Buttercream Frosting
Using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl for a couple minutes until it is light and fluffy.
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
3 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
Once you've used about half your powdered sugar, add in a bit of whiskey and then mix again. This will thin it out a bit, allowing you to continue mixing in the remaining sugar. Continue to add a bit of whiskey and mix until you've used all the sugar.
3 tablespoons Jack Daniels whiskey
You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you want it to be less whiskey-y.
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes however you'd like. Top them with the little gummy cola bottles or candy lime slices - or both!
24 gummy cola bottles or 24 lime fruit slices
Video
Notes
Not a fan of whiskey? Swap it out for your favorite rum!
I recommend using aluminum liners or silicon cupcake holders. Paper liners coated with nonstick spray will still work, but aluminum liners are very easy to peel away from the cupcake.
You have to use regular Coca-Cola. You cannot use any of the reduced or sugar-free versions - it won't work for the purpose of this recipe as you need the sugar in the original.
When you're making the ganache, don't jump ahead and add the whiskey too soon. Make sure you add it right at the end, otherwise, you're going to cook off some of that flavor!
I like to use a cupcake corer to remove the center of the cupcake, but you can also just use a small paring knife to carve it out. Save the cores and make some cake pops with them later!