guinness chocolate cake

It’s fair to say Guinness and chocolate are two of my favorite ingredients. They are significant contributors to my chili recipe; how they have a cake of their own.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two nine-inch round cake pans.

1 1/2 cups Guinness (or other dark beer or stout)
1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup cocoa powder (use Dutch-press cocoa)

Heat the butter and Guinness together until the butter melts; remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl, whisk together

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of your mixer, combine

3 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Add the Guinness-cocoa mixture, and stir until combined. Put the mixer on slow speed and add the dry mix, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once everything is in the bowl, mix on medium speed for about one minute.

Divide the mixture between the two cake pans. Bake the layers for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the cakes to a rack for at least ten minutes before turning them out of the pans and returning them to the cooling rack. Let them cool completely before icing, which is easy because the icing has to cool for a couple of hours.

1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put the chocolate chips in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy saucepan or in the microwave. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is velvety smooth. Add the vanilla and stir again. Refrigerate until the icing is both stiff and spreadable -- about two hours.

When you get ready to ice the cake, make sure the bottom layer is flat on top, so it doesn’t crack when you invert it on the cake plate. Place it bottom side up and use almost two-thirds of the icing on the top of the bottom layer. Place the second layer top side up and use the remaining icing for the top and sides.

I found it helpful to put the entire cake in the fridge to let the icing set -- the layers can slide around a bit.

Peace,
Milton