Chocolate Stout Cake

Chocolate stout cake is a chocolate layer cake recipe that I discovered quite by accident while having lunch at The Barrington Brew Pub in Great Barrington Massachusetts.

Turns out the cake is made with a stout, which is a generic term for the strongest or stoutest of beers. I was so excited, because my oldest sons wedding was coming up and he just happens to be a huge Guinness stout fan. Now I could make him a unique chocolate wedding cake. This recipe calls for Guinness but you can use any kind of stout that you like.

The waitress also explained that this very recipe was a house specialty and was written up in Bon Appétit-September 2002. The Barrington Brew Pub also brews their own amazing beer. They do not have a web site but here are some reviews on The Barrington Brew Pub.

The cake above is Daniel and Melissa's wedding cake made with Guinness. They wanted a simple design with fondant enrobing with fresh flowers. Below is a sideshow of the process of making the cake and boxing up the cake favors.

Chocolate Stout Cake

Makes three 8 or 9 inch round cakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients

• 2 cups of stout (I used Guinness)
• 2 cups (4 sticks of unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably dutch process)
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 T baking soda
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cup sour cream

Bring the stout and the butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and the 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. Cool the cakes in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Then invert onto racks.

Pan Prep: I use either a spray oil or Crisco to grease the pans well, followed by a dusting of flour, followed by a layer of parchment paper or waxed paper that has been cut to fit the pan. That's it. No need to re-grease and flour the waxed paper as some cookbooks will ask you to do.

Icing

• 2 cups of cream
• 1 lb. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped

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.

More wedding cake recipes here.

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