Guinness and Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Frosting

Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 3.
Line a muffin tin with 10 cupcake cases.
Sift the cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.
Melt the unsalted butter in a small pan, then pour it into the cocoa powder.
Add the vanilla extract, egg, and Guinness, and whisk until well combined.
In a separate large mixing bowl, sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, and caster sugar.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
Pour the Guinness mixture into the well and whisk until a smooth, shiny batter forms.
Spoon or pipe the batter into the cupcake cases, filling them two-thirds full.
Bake for 17–20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the unsalted butter and sifted icing sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add 1–2 tablespoons of Baileys Irish Cream and continue whisking for 5 minutes until the frosting becomes paler and smooth.
Divide the frosting into two portions.
Add the black food coloring to one portion, mixing until it reaches the desired shade.
For a darker color, use a concentrated black food coloring.
Fit a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle and carefully spoon both frostings into the bag, arranging them side by side so that they pipe out together, creating a swirl effect.

Pipe a large swirl of the frosting on top of each cooled cupcake.
Decorate with silver balls and lightly spray with silver shimmer spray for a finishing touch.