If you love deep, rich chocolate then this cake is definitely for you. Low-fat it is not, but heavenly it is. Although it contains stout, this cake does not taste like beer. It simply uses the roasted malt flavor from the beer to lend to the intense character of the cake, the crumb of which is very dense and moist. I’ve baked this many times over the last few years and find that while it’s great to eat just a few hours after baking, it’s superb the next day. So if you have the ability to make and ganache the cake the day before, I think that you’ll be pleased with the outcome- not that I think you’ll ever be let down if you eat it the first day.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup stout (I generally use a chocolate stout like Young’s Double Chocolate or Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate, Southern Tier’s Choklat even made an appearance once)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (my favorite is valrhona)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 6 tablespoons sour cream (I’ve used non-fat without adverse effects)
  • 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chunked
  • 6 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground espresso

Directions

Cake prep:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Grease a bundt pan
  3. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly
  4. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl
  5. Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend
  6. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine
  7. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on a slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold the batter until it’s completely combined
  8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (but sometimes as long as 50)
  9. Transfer cake (in the pan) to a rack; cool 10 minutes
  10. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely

Ganache:

  1. Melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and espresso in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water in a sauce pan until smooth, stirring occasionally
  2. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake

Inspired by this post on smittenkitchen.com

By : Jess Tags: