I know this is a bit late for St. Patrick's Day, but with March 17 being a Wednesday this year, I didn't get a chance to make an Irish-themed recipe, let alone post one! Besides, by waiting, I was able to pick from the many St. Patrick's recipes featured on my favorite food blogs.

I found these recipes at Tasty Kitchen.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
2 cups Guinness Stout
2 cups (4 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins, or line with baking cups.

Heat stout and butter in saucepan over medium heat until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat and immediately add cocoa powder; whisk to combine. Set aside to cool.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sour cream. Add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients and beat until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 16-18 minutes (mine took closer to 22 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove to cool on wire rack.  Makes 48 cupcakes.

Bittersweet Ganache
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Heat the heavy cream to a simmer. Pour over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let sit for a minute, then whisk to combine.

Carefully dip the tops of each cupcake into the ganache and set aside to cool.

If you prefer, you can cover and refrigerate the ganache for two hours and use like a traditional frosting instead. I like the dipping method better, myself.

You-Won't-Believe-How-Good-This-Is Frosting
My mom made this frosting when I was a kid, and it was always my favorite. She called it "Waldorf Astoria Frosting" but I have no idea why. I had forgotten all about it until I saw this recipe online recently. I never realized before how odd the recipe is; whoever heard of cooked milk and flour in frosting? Trust me, this is the absolute best frosting, especially on chocolate cake. Light, fluffy, the perfect balance of rich and sweet. You have to taste it to believe it.

1 cup milk
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar (NOT powdered sugar)

Whisk flour and milk together in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add vanilla and stir.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat until the frosting looks like whipped cream.

Give it a taste, and try not to lose your mind and eat the entire bowl.

This was the first time I ever cooked or baked with Guinness, so it definitely qualifies as a Friday First!  It was also my first time tasting Guinness, but as I am not a fan of beer (wine or cocktails for me!) I preferred it baked up with some chocolate and not in my glass.

Click here to check out all the other Friday Firsts!