Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Step 2

In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together, whisking to blend.

Step 3

In a medium bowl, whisk together the stout, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Add this to the flour mixture and whisk just until combined.

Step 4

Fill the paper liners about 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few cooked crumbs. Cool the bases in the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer each cupcake to a cooling rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Step 5

In a stand mixer with balloon whisk attachment or with a hand held blender, beat the vegan butter/shortening until smooth, slowly adding in the confectioner's sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, blending well before the next addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in 3 tbsp of the Irish cream and beat for about 3 minutes, adding more Irish cream a tbsp at a time depending on the consistency you like. If it's thinned out too much, the frosting will slouch on the cupcakes. If it gets too thin by mistake, add a couple more tbsp of confectioner's sugar. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle with vegan chocolate shavings