I attended a tea party in Boston this week. Yes, a real bona fide tea party with real tea and assorted items for noshing. While the Tea Party Express rallied tax protesters on the Boston Common, I and a hundred or so other folks gathered for what was dubbed The Real Boston Tea Party. Most of us dressed up in fancy smancy outfits and had an old-fashioned tea party picnic right on the Common.

It wasn’t political or obnoxious or theatrical. It was simply a tea party. Some folks did bring signs, but one sign in particular summed up the event perfectly. It said: “Our tea party has cookies.” And indeed it did! As well as scones, crumpets, petit fours, bread, cake, and in my case, cupcakes.

Despite my late Victorian garb, I veered into a more modern style of tasty treat — the moist and fluffy cupcake. I made Chocolate Stout Cupcakes, using a recipe from RainyDayGal on Tasty Kitchen. However, because I had to transport these lovelies by car and train, I chose not to frost them. To be honest, though, I didn’t miss the frosting, and it seemed that no one else did either.

Paired with a cup of fine peach ginger black tea, these cupcakes were delish! Immediately, the cupcakes began to disappear as my boyfriend and I offered them to other tea party attendees (and often receiving other fine goods in return). A few days later and the ones I left at home are still yummy. Dare I say they get better with time? Moister, at least.

I began this recipe around 8pm the night before the party and didn’t finish baking until midnight. I realized about one-third of the way into the recipe that the numbers of cupcakes it would make is 48. Forty-eight cupcakes a lot of cupcakes! If you don’t need so many, use Tasty Kitchen’s awesome serving adjustment tool to modify the recipes amounts to accommodate your cupcake quantity needs.

Also, don’t worry about using a hand mixer as the recipe calls for. I used a whisk and beat it really fast and everything turned out fine. Instead, worry about having a bowl big enough to mix all the ingredients together at the end. Because it will be a lot of batter. Seriously, a lot. I ended up splitting up the batter and using my Kitchen Aid mixer in two rounds of final mixing. It worked out okay.

One final note: Use good stout. I know it may seem unimportant, especially since you’re consuming it in a baked good and not straight from the bottle. However, if you’re going to bother to consume this many calories and this much saturated fat, opt for the good stuff. Good food is made from good ingredients.

I used Rogue Chocolate Stout from Bert’s Better Beers in Hooksett, NH. Very rich, very creamy, and very good in these cupcakes. It also added a final note of a bitterness for a bittersweet chocolate taste.

Happy eating and hope your weekend rocks!

2 cups Stout
2 cups Unsalted Butter
1-½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
4 cups Flour
4 cups Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
1-½ teaspoon Salt
4 whole Eggs
1-½ cup Sour Cream
2 cups Whipping Cream
1 pound Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped

For the ganache frosting:

Bring whipping cream just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, and immediately whisk in bittersweet chocolate until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Stir before frosting.

For cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter and stout in a medium saucepan. Bring just to a simmer and then remove from heat. 
2. Immediately add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl. 
4. Beat together eggs and sour cream in another bowl using an electric handheld mixer.
5. Pour in the butter/cocoa/stout mixture and mix to combine. 
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix until batter is smooth.
7. Pour batter into prepared (lined or greased) muffin pans. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle of cupcake comes out clean. 
8. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting with bittersweet ganache.
(According to RainyDayGal, this recipe was adapted heavily from Bon Appetit’s Chocolate Stout Cake.)