Chocolate Stout Cake

This rendition of Garrett McCord’s (Vanilla Garlic) version (posted on Simply Recipes) of Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Guinness Cake finshed off the evening. This simple to make cake is dense and satisfying with a not too sweet cream cheese frosting. Whenever you have a stout or porter in the house, hide a bottle from the beer drinkers and make this cake. It takes only 1 cup of beer so you can have the rest of the bottle for you! 


Mix wet ingredients together.

Pour batter into springform pan. Drop cake a couple of inches above counter to deflate air bubbles in the batter.

Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Whip the frosting's butter and cream cheese until light before adding sugar and vanilla extract.

Chocolate Stout Cake

Cake

1 cup stout or porter beer

10 Tbls. unsalted butter

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ cups superfine sugar

½ cup dark brown sugar

¾ cup sour cream

2 ½ tsp. baking soda

2 eggs, large

1 Tbls. vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup of whole wheat flour may be substituted for a more dense cake)

¼ tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz. unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2-3 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Milk or cream

Grease a 9” springform pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment.

In a small bowl, mix together flour and salt; set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine the beer and butter whisking occasionally until butter has melted.  Add the cocoa powder and sugars to the mixture and whisk together.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust oven rack to the middle of the oven.

In a large bowl, add sour cream and baking soda and mix together well and let meld for about a minute.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract.   With an electric mixer beat on low speed until very well mixed.  Add the cooled beer-butter mixture to the wet ingredients whisking all together.  Mix in with a wooden spoon the dry ingredients until the batter  comes together.

Pour into the prepared springform pan.   Hold the pan a couple of inches from the counter and drop the pan to deflate any air bubbles.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool completely on a cake rack.  Run a knife along the edge of the cake before releasing the springform pan ring.

For the frosting, combine the butter and cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract.  If necessary, thin with milk, light cream or whipping cream using a few drops at a time.  Frost top of cake and enjoy.

The frosting on top of the cake represents the foamy beerhead .

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