Triple the Irish, Triple the Fun: St. Patty's Day Cheesecake Bites

If you've been reading food blogs for more than a year or so, you've probably seen some iteration of a cupcake incorporating Irish stout, Irish cream, and Irish whiskey (commonly known as the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake, after the popular cocktail). They were all the rage a few years ago when introduced by Smitten Kitchen. I've made them a couple of times, and they really are quite tasty. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with chocolate cake and Irish cream frosting, right?

This year I thought I would try out a new adults-only treat for St. Patty's Day, using the same flavor components of Smitten Kitchen's cupcakes. Since cheesecake is the medium I feel most comfortable working with, that seemed like a good place to start. After a bit of deliberation, I settled on a chocolate stout brownie topped with Irish cream cheesecake and finished off with a dark chocolate Irish whiskey glaze.

These turned out great. You can definitely detect the alcohol in the cheesecake and whiskey glaze, so they aren't a great choice for children or those that don't like the taste of alcohol. For everyone else, these are pretty amazing. They're perfect for  St. Patty's Day. Or any day, really.

Triple Irish Cheesecake Bites (aka Irish Car Bomb Cheesecake Bites)
Yield: 24 mini cheesecakes or 1 6-inch cheesecake

Irish Stout Brownies - adapted from: We're Not Martha
1/2 Cup Irish Stout
2.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini cheesecake pan with non-stick spray. Alternatively, you can line a mini muffin tin with papers.
2. Melt chocolate and butter together in either a double boiler or in 30 second intervals in the microwave on medium heat, stirring after each interval. Continue to stir until completely melted.
3.  Allow chocolate to cool slightly, then whisk in brown sugar until very smooth. Add egg and beat until very smooth. Once eggs are incorporated, stir in Irish Stout.
4. Sift together flour and cocoa powder, then fold dry ingredient into chocolate mixture until incorporated without over mixing.
5. Fill each well 1/3 full with brownie batter. Bake in the pre-heated oven until just set, approximately 12-15 minutes.
6. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Irish Cream Cheesecake
1 lb (2-8 ounce packages) cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 Irish cream (Bailey's is most popular; I really like Coole Swan brand)
3 eggs

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Cut cream cheese into 1-inch chunks and beat at low speed in the bowl of a stand mixer until very smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and beater blade.


2. With your mixer still on low, add sugar to cream cheese.
 Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down beater blade and bowl. Add Irish cream and beat until well incorporated.

4. With mixer on low, add eggs. After eggs have been added, thoroughly scrape down sides of bowl and beater blade, and mix on low for 1 minute. 

5. Pour batter over crust, filling to within a 1/2 inch of the top of each well. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Irish Whiskey Chocolate Glaze

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

Melt chocolate and heavy cream together in either a double boiler or in 30 second intervals in the microwave on medium heat, stirring after each interval. Once chocolate is melted, whisk in Irish whiskey. Allow glaze to cool and thicken slightly before drizzling over cheesecakes.

Linked to: Trick or Treat Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tea Party Tuesday, Midweek Fiesta, Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party, Made Famous By, Junk in their Trunk, Sweet Treats Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Sweet Temptations, It's a Keeper Thursday, Foodie Friday, Fusion Friday, Flaunt it Friday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Hodgepodge Friday, What I Whipped Up, Tastetastic Thursday, Sweet Temptations