While St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday in Ireland, in the US it seems to be more of an excuse for parades, parties, barhopping, and general revelry. And what is a bit of festive debauchery without edibles?

While I am no Betty Crocker, I can’t resist making my annual Guinness cupcakes with a handy recipe I found on Live Journal.

First, infuse the butter. You can do this the messy, old-fashioned, and time-consuming way with cannabis, a cheesecloth, and a strainer. However, I prefer to use a Levo or a Levo II. This sleek little countertop appliance looks innocuously like a Keurig coffee machine, when in fact it infuses oil and butter with the “herbs” of your choice.

In this case, choose cannabis flower as your herb. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Green Goblin or Lucky Charms might be suitable strains to use.

Next, all you have to do is add the flower, oil, or butter to the Levo, push the button, and wait.

(For purists who want to decarboxylate their cannabis flower first, try using an Ardent Nova from a WOC-owned business. Personally, while I have a Nova, I am of the school of thought that in this case the baking will handle the decarbing.)

I like that the Levo comes with a child safety lock feature, so you can set it and forget it, until your infused oil is ready.

Once your butter or oil is infused, it’s “time to make the donuts…” err… cupcakes.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcake Recipe:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) of cannabis-infused butter

1 cup Guinness extra stout

2/3 cup dark cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs (or egg replacer)

1/2 cup sour cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 24 to 30 muffin cups or line them with paper liners. In a heavy saucepan heat the infused butter, Guinness and dark cocoa powder until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the salt, flour, sugar and baking soda. Add the Guinness-cocoa mixture and beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Add the eggs or egg replacer and sour cream and beat for another two minutes on medium speed . Evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick poked into the center of the muffin comes out clean without any cupcake residue.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting:

About 3 to 4 cups confectionary sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted infused butter at room temperature

pinch of salt

About 3 to 4 tablespoons of Bailey’s Irish Cream or to taste (I added a little Barista almond milk so mine wouldn’t be too strong.)

Cream butter until light & fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and pinch of salt, a little bit at a time. Once combined, add the Bailey’s and beat on high until the mixture is fluffy and smooth.

H/t to Live journal for the original (non-infused) Guinness cupcake recipe.