Chocolate Stout Cake

Yesterday was our son Mathew's birthday and I wanted to make him a cake. Since he is a chocoholic the Chocolate Stout Cake seemed like the perfect choice. This rich, wonderful, yummy cake is sure to please any one who enjoys rich chocolate. I've made it before for St. Patrick's Day and since it's made with a stout beer as Guinness it will make any Irishman happy. The Guinness candle was made by our daughter n law Julie that added a great touch.


I found this recipe on epicurious.com.

Chocolate Stout Cake

Ingredients for cake

2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
2 cups (4 sticks unsalted butter) *I had salted and it seemed fine.
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

4 cups all purpose flour *I used an organic unbleached
4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

Icing

2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped *I used bittersweet

For Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter tree 8" round cake pans with 2" high sides. Line with parchment paper and butter paper. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For Icing:

Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours. We went out to dinner at this point and I didn't frequently stir as before and it was in the frig longer. It was a bit harder to work with but still tasted awesome.
Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing over. Top with second layer and repeat. Then lastly top with third layer and use remaining icing to finish the cake top and sides. Makes 12 serving but can definitely go farther.

Only problem with this cake is that Jake and Julie were not here to celebrate with us.