Recipes: Chocolate Guinness Cake

THIS is a pretty darn good chocolate cake, I must say. I baked this up Thursday afternoon for a friend’s birthday bar-b-q we attended last night. I was telling party attendees all week to make room for some special decadence as word on the internet street was that this was an A+ chocolate cake, one, as they say, “to die for”. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but oohs, ahhs and oh my’s were uttered across the room after each person took their first bite…and their second and third in most cases.  It wasn’t overly rich and chocolaty, like you were eating fudge (e.g., a chocolate torte), but it was moist and dense and the cream cheese frosting made a perfect balance.  I happened to have made a strawberry sorbet that we served with it and the two were surprisingly complimentary–a bit of cake, then a bite of sorbet to cleanse the palette.  Yeah, this cake is a keeper. And it’s very easy to make, too, though I warn you, it’s not exactly low-cal. The good thing is, a little goes a long way. You won’t be inclined to indulge on seconds as one slice will satisfy. Enough talk. Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Cake:

1 cup Guinness

1/2 cup unsalted butter (8 tbsp)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Frosting:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. lightly butter or grease a 9-inch springform pan.

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine Guinness, butter and cocoa. Stir and cook very gently until butter and cocoa melt and the mixture is fairly smooth; remove from heat. Whisk in the sugar.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk this mixture into the Guinness mixture. Add the flour and baking soda and mix again until smooth.

Pour the batter into the buttered pan and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until risen and firm (and a knife comes out clean). Place on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

Frosting:

Mix the powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the cream until it is loose enough to spread easily. Spread on the top of the cooled cake only, so it resembles a poured Guinness beer with foam/head.

Notes: First, any bitter stout will do, not just Guinness. I had on hand a stout by a local brewer, so I used that. As for the butter, if you’re worried about the amount, you can experiment with cutting back on it a little. I had seen a posting by a blogger who said they used only 6 tbs and didn’t think it marred the results. I also used a lower fat sour cream and cream cheese. I wouldn’t use fat-free versions for baking items like this, as it may alter the taste and texture too much, and that’s one of the appeals about this cake.  You can try at your own risk, though.  Lastly, though I bought heavy cream to use, the texture and consistency of the frosting using just the cream cheese and powdered sugar was perfect for the cake. I’m not sure why milk or a lower-fat cream wouldn’t suffice to thin out the frosting if it was needed. I’m now stuck with a pint of heavy cream to figure out how to use. Perhaps some ice CREAM …? Anyway, so many people have blogged about and taken photos of this cake, I’m linking to a few that I perused prior to my making it. Check ‘em out yourself and see what you think, below.

-Heidi’s photo. Yep, that’s how it looks!

-Recipegirl makes a chocolate ganach for the top. Hmmm….

-Sucheela’s variation.

-Nicole makes it for St. Pat’s day.

-Kim for the Washington Post.

-Tom’s version of the Stout Cake.  Some people have a recipe for making it a 3-layer cake.