I have waited not so patiently for Highland brewing’s Thunderstruck Porter to come out to make these cupcakes. This recipe is a combination of the wonderful food and drink I have available here in the foodtopia I call Asheville. There were so many wonderful local treats in our goodie-food bags from Foodtopia Asheville for the food bloggers forum that took place in August. French Broad Chocolates gave us a huge 17.9 oz bean-to-
bar chefs’ tablet of 66% cacao from Chulucanas, Peru. I also found other goodies in that bag to inspire this recipe, Blue Blaze Soda had put in some lemon cherry Echinacea Soda syrup (which is my favorite so far) I liked this syrup so much that I went out and purchased the birch beer and the orange dreamsicle syrups. Highland Brewery also put a sample in there but I was already familiar with their beers (don’t judge). We also had a little (or big) sampling of spirits from Troy and Sons during the Moonshine Madness party at the Doubletree Asheville-Biltmore and I normally don’t like brown liquor but I enjoyed the blonde whiskey, which I also purchased for this recipe. 
To stay with my endeavour to be healthy and avoid GMOs and processed foods. I used mostly organic or gmo free ingredients in this recipe. I used white whole wheat flour which is a bit lighter than whole wheat flour but has the nutrients of whole wheat, also I substituted coconut sugar for white refined sugar. I creamed the coconut sugar and let it sit a bit longer to help dissolve since the granules are bigger than regular sugar, then mixed the melted chocolate in while it was still warm. So here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it.
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar (refined cane sugar may be substituted)
6 oz semisweet chocolate. I used French Broad Chocolate (or you favorite chocolate bar)
2 eggs
1 cup Highland Thunderstruck Porter
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
8 oz semisweet chocolate (I used French Broad chocolate)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbs blonde whiskey
1 cup heavy cream
5 tsp Blue Blaze orange dreamsicle soda syrup.
Directions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fully combined.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, while the chocolate is still warm (not hot) add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.
- Mix in eggs until just combined.
- Mix in vanilla,beer and yogurt until just combined.
- Mix flour salt and baking soda together I like using a whisk.
- Add flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and put in the oven.
- Check for doneness at 18 minutes - a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake should come out clean. If they are not done, check again every three minutes until they are done.
- Remove cupcakes from the cupcake tin and place on a cooling rack or on the counter to cool.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl
- Bring heavy cream to a boil the pour over chocolate and let sit for two minutes
- Using a rubber spatula mix until smooth
- Add whiskey mix until smooth
- Using a piping bag with a large round tip push tip into cupcakes and fill with ganache
- Using a chilled mixing bowl and whisk Heavy cream and orange cream syrup until light and fluffy don't whisk too long or you will have orange flavored butter (which might be good on toast)
- Top cupcakes with whipped cream and enjoy!