ganached guinness goodness
Because it’s fun for me, I’ve decided that today is the day that I will embarrass my former boss. You see, she and I are two of a very small group of girl-types in a very boy-dominated sector of publishing, and while I would normally argue that gender stereotypes are old, tiresome and played out, in our professional realm at least, they’re fairly rightly-placed. While the guys go on in great lengths about (pick one, or all of the below) the Red Sox, Giants, hockey, PlayStation, Borat, You The Man Now Dawg website, beer and where it doesn’t cost much and the Joy of Street Meat, she and I would spend an at least equal amount of time and devotion chattering about all aspects of food and cooking as, just my luck, she is as obsessed as I am. Having excellent taste, she loves chocolate and Guinness in a near-equal ratio, thus when I happened upon this recipe many, many months ago, I bookmarked it for the express purpose of making for her birthday. In the months since, she’s moved onto bigger better things - Full-time freelancing! Breaking even! Subverting the dominant paradigm! (fine, I added that) - this recipe has drilled such a hole in my bookmarks, I was unable to ignore it any longer, busting it out for the birthday of a friend who ended up stuck in the airport from LA and didn’t make back in time for Sunday night’s dinner party and a sampling of her cake, which as it turns out, we were more than capable of enjoying without her. [Is this sentence still on? Because, really, I feel no need to stop.]
Now, I’ve explained before that I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cakes as I think all that egg, flour and baking powder dilute the inherent charm of true chocolate, leaving you with things that taste “chocolatey” but are not that bite I crave, covet and occasionally dream about. But this cake is really fantastic. The beer gives it a richer, fuller, nuttier flavor while keeping it from leaning too heavily on the sweet side; the sour cream makes it an exceedingly moist cake that is neither mushy or unstructured, without requiring any additional basting, sealing or prayer to keep it on this side of the texture of stale cornbread; and the chocolate ganache on top with a hint of coffee is like the crowning third of the flavor trifecta. This cake kicks butt.
The original recipe, at least according to the numerous, amusing comments on Epicurious, makes a stunning amount of batter. I took several writers’ advice and halved it to fit in a bundt pan, and decided to replace their sort of odd frosting suggestion with a basic, failure-free ganache, the same that I had used for the orange-chocolate chunk cake. I reduced the recipe by one-quarter, remembering that it had made way too much, but even a 75 percent, it mostly puddled beneath the cooling rack, clearly begging for a swipe from our hungry fingers.
Chocolate Stout Cake
Adapted from Bon Appétit, September 2002, recipe originally from the Barrington Brewery in Great Barrington, MA
This recipe was originally intended to make a layer cake of 3-8″ rounds. Upon many reviewers’ suggestions, I halved it and it fit perfectly in a bundt pan. The halved amount is below, and the icing replaced with a simple ganache.
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream*
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules
Cake prep:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well; make sure you get in all of the nooks and crannies. (Some people even go so far as to brush the inside of their bundt pans with melted butter–you cannot be too careful!). Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup 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 3/4 teaspoon 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. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.**
Ganache:
For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.
* This has been updated from the earlier amount of 6 tablespoons, which although incorrect, still apparently worked for dozens of bakers, myself included. Nonetheless, the extra few tablespoons of sour cream will only serve to make the cake more moist, if that is possible to imagine!
** Update 3/25/08: Previously, the instructions suggested that you cool the cake for only 10 minutes in the pan before flipping it out onto a cooling rack and cooling it the rest of the way. After several conversations with readers/test cooks who found that their cake stuck a little, awesome reader Susan tried to cool the cake completely in the pan before releasing it and nothing stuck. I agree that this might be a better way to go.
Mmmmm sounds fantastic…and looks beautiful too!
Lordy woman, I am trying to lose weight and you are killing me with recipes I want to try. Put something vegetarian and low-fat up there for me. ;)
Sounds fabulous! My queue of things to bake keeps getting longer.
This cake looks so yum! I’m adding it to about 6 other recipes that I’m dying to try, but have yet to find the time. Do you have any recipes for roasted red pepper soup? There are a million out there, but I’m sure you have a favorite. Also, if you say it’s good, it’s gotta be good! Thanks
You have the most amazing photographs on your site!! I think I just drooled on my keyboard - but chocolate will do that. I have to try this, the one time I made a chocolate cake recipe with stout as an ingredient it was ok, but not outstanding - this one looks great.
Looks great! I’ve had this recipe saved for over 6 months now to make for my husband’s birthday in January. Your ganache sounds great!
OH….
MY….
GOD….
*drooling* That looks beyond simply amazing, and I don’t like chocolate/cake that much. O.O
I second Christine and add a DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM.
YUMMMMM. this looks amazing. what could be better than chocolate, beer, and coffee! what are the white dots on top??
LMB815 - Thank you.
Traci - Perhaps some lentil stew? Vegetable fritters? Squash with lime vinaigrette?
Jessie - I just saw this collection of North African recipes on Food and Wine and immediately bookmarked half of them, so I know what you mean about the queue!
Suzette - I haven’t made roasted pepper soup, but I made a fresh red pepper soup last year that became a party favorite. It’s PERFECT. Recipe over here.
Joanna - I hope you like this one better - the stout makes it deliciously bittersweet.
Tammi - Hooray! I love it when I end up testing out recipes people want to make, as much as I love it when others do the same for me. I think you’ll like this cake.
Ashley - Fresh Direct, for the third time now, has sent me white chocolate pastilles when I ordered 61% ones. They credit their mistake, but I’m still stuck with them, so I’ve taken to using them for decorations.
My birthday is November 25. It’s a Saturday.
Hi Deb-
The cake looks incredible…I was an avid reader of your blog on ivillage and absolutely love your new smitten kitchen blog.
I was the person who asked about your opinion on Ina Garten last week. I also have a slight obsession with her. I find nothing more relaxing than watching her show, listening to her (somewhat endearing) slight insecurities of Jeffrey finding another woman to cook for him and hearing her say “Now, how easy was THAT?”. I made her pecan squares and they were excellent- but definitely put a sheet of foil on a lower rack in your oven. I learned that lessons that hard way. I didn’t dip the ends in chocolate, as she suggests because “Why not? Ha.Ha.Ha.”. I figured that the 9 sticks of butter used in the recipe were enough in terms of indulgence. My co-workers loved them though and I think it would be a great dessert to bring to a Thanksgiving dinner party.
I was wondering if you still have the link to the oreo cookie recipe you had posted on ivillage? I can’t seem to find it on your new site.
Michelle
So, in case nobody else has asked… would this cake be delicious in cupcake form?
I am at a loss for words to aptly describe my reaction to that photo……yum doesn’t cover it….
And Oh.My.God. isn’t even close enough.
I do have to say I am totally diggin’ this daily blogging you are doing. Something wonderful every day! Can’t get better than that!
I’m in awe. This looks absolutely fantastic! So many of the recipes you have posted I’ve bookmarked. So, thanks for the ideas!
That looks amazing.
Oh MY! If I had known I might have gotten a piece of this cake, I might have postponed subverting the dominant paradigm for a few months! I think I’m going to have to bake one of these and bring it to the office (so the remaining folks can help me avoid eating all of it myself).
Any tips on how to get cake out of a bundt pan in one perfect, unbroken piece? For me it’s a crapshoot, would love to get consistently good results. Thanks!
I’d give up veggies for a tiny smidgin of cake like this! ; - )
Did you know that in Ireland they serve Guinniss to people to frail to chew?
This looks deelish.
Not knowing what Fresh Direct was (well, i assumed it was groceries) i peeked at their web site…. HOLY CRAP…
Deb, You gotta move to California.
WOW @ what you pay for corn and artichokes. (and tomatoes and and and and and and and and and……)
eeegadssss.. Id make my co-workers pay for all the goodies they get when you bring left-overs in.
Hi, I am reading this blog in OZ and am wondering in grams or ounces how much a stick of butter is equivalent to? thanks.
I was making this cake (the 3-layer version) the night of the NYC blackout — luckily, i was in Boston and not New York, but I’ve never wished for a cake to cook faster in my life, for fear that the darkness might spread up our way. And, insult to injury, I decided not to serve it at my sweetie’s 30th bday the next day because the ganache was all lumpy and crumb-y (user error — too impatient to wait for the layers to cool!). But we somehow managed to dispatch of it pretty well in the weeks following! Only had to give a few chunks away to friends and strangers on the street (for self-preservation, of course).
Jocelyn - Will you be in town? If so, put some lip gloss on, we need a party.
Michelle - I crack up about her relationship with her husband too, all Jeffrey-this and Jeffrey-that. Jeffrey, who is by the way, not exactly a nobody himself. Alas, those NINE STICKS OF BUTTER (how does she do that? I didn’t even know that amount was possible!) are what’s kept me from making those pecan bars, though I would also never cut them as large as she did - portion control! - or dip them in chocolate (somewhere, Alex is taking issue with this). I grabbed the Oreo recipe over here.
Nikki - I was wondering the same myself and while I am certain it would be, the only factor to be considered is if it will easily come off a paper wrapper, and I haven’t tested that yet. My bread-baking teacher, also a pastry professor, by the way, who was, we joked, obsessed with Pam spray, said whether it sticks should be a non-issue, if you are worried, just spritz the papers lightly with Pam before you put the batter in. I haven’t tried this yet, but I have no doubt he knows what he’s talking about. Simply buttering the pans would work fine too, if you want a paper-free experience.
Kate - I will regret saying this, no doubt, but I’m not minding the daily thing either. Oddly, the most annoying day to post was not a busy weekday but Saturday, when I was too busy with other things to sit down for a while. I wonder how long I can keep it up!
Kirs - You’re welcome!
Peabody -Thank you.
MJF - Ha. Ha. Remaining folks, indeed. Just me and the tumbleweeds some days, it seems. That said, the boys loved the cake and would certainly be happy for more.
Ella - Prayer sometimes works. I actually have a non-stick bundt, which gives it a slippery start, but after many failed attempts at greasing it (I always miss some crevice), I just use Pam now. Still, this cake lost a chunk! but instead of panicking, I released the missing chunk as carefully as I could while the cake was still hot, and managed to pat it back into it’s exactly place so it merged a bit while it cooled. You couldn’t tell at all. (Of course, the ganache helped cover it, but really - slow and steady, it will come back together).
Alanna - Why trade? Besides, you’ll need some green salad and carrot sticks after a hunk of this!
Shuna - That’s beautiful. Yet another reason to expat myself!
Cupcakes - Yeah, no joke. I don’t buy the bulk of stuff there (not that our stores are much better), but it’s great when having a big party and the prospect of carrying ten bags home and up four flights of stairs seems not worth it at all. Great price on those Guittard baking pastilles, though, only $5/pound! Also? Those artichokes at $1.99 were cheaper than anywhere around here by DOLLARS.
woodwinkedithink - I don’t have conversions up on this site yet - another item for the endless site to-do list! - but Clotilde does on Chocolate & Zucchini. Link is here.
Jess - What a story! I only wish I had been closer, and not stuck on a roof with some frat boys drinking out the contents of their beer fridges.
I don’t have a nonstick bundt pan but mine come out everytime.
Here’s how:
Use a pastry brush and brush on softened butter or shortening. It’s best to have a dark pan because you can see exactly where you missed. Be liberal with your brushing and go all the way up the sides and middle cone.
Then dust once with flour over a larger tupperware or something like that. Once you’ve tapped out all the flour you’ll be able to see the holes you missed and go over them with the pastry brush again. Repeat the flour dusting.
TAHDAH! No more stuck bundts! Patience is the key - but if you enjoy baking you’ve already got plenty of that.
I made this one recently: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/262/750/1600/pumpkincake.jpg
That ganache dribbling over the sides looks delicious.
I’ll be in town. Will you?
I made this cake last night to take to Thanksgiving dinner and it is really incredible, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. I’m thinking about refraining from guiling the lily too much and dressing it with powdered sugar only. Thanks for posting about it! Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I failed to heed your warning about the amount of batter and ended up making two cakes! My guests this weekend will be the lucky beneficiaries. : )
Oh! I’ve had this cake - a really super baker chick made it for my boyfriend’s birthday (she was married to his best friend, so that was ok with me), and I decided to try making it myself and it ended up lighting on fire in the oven. Yes. On fire. In my electric oven. Durh. I will try your version, because I can DO bundt. Bundts are my friend. Ever done the Harvey Wallbanger cake? Super easy but not as fancy like all your gorgeous recipes - a pkg of yellow cake mix, a pkg of vanilla pudding mix, 4 eggs, however much oil the cake mix calls for, 1/4 c vodka, 1/4 c OJ, 1/4 c galliano, bake in a bundt at 350 for 45 mins, and you have squishy soft citrussy goodness. I bake it for my hot Irish neighbor, but I think he’s going to get a Guiness cake this time!! Thanks for a great site!
Do you think this 1/2 recipe would fit into a pan of mini Bundt forms? Or should I double it? This sounds absolutely fantastic - Guiness and chocolate! Love.
I made this two days ago; it is crazy good and has an incredibly moist, satisfying crumb. I spread my ganache all over it as it never ‘drizzles’ for me so beautifully (as in Deb’s picture). A MUST make. Easy and amazing. I looked for Guinness but ended up using Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Crazy. Good.
I love this cake…in fact, I’d be hard pressed to try another chocolate cake right now. I can’t believe how moist it stays…even days later. Unbelieveable. And the best part? Taste testing beers that pass muster. Guiness is a little weak in flavor and the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is…ICK! I ended up using a hearty microbrew…Rogue’s Chocolate Stout. It was delicious.
Your photo is positively inspired. Is that sliced almonds as a garnish?
Wow. The Guiness cake looks great. Finally, Guiness and desert have combined at last. Life is good.
I made this recipe into cupcakes - I got 16 cupcakes out of it. Baked them at 350 for about 18 minutes. They didn’t really dome up too much - they are sort of flat, but very light - so I think they raised as much as they were going to.
Used all the ganache on them - worked really well and was much less fiddly than frosting cupcakes usually is. I agree with JennyL and Traca - even in cupcake form, this cake is staying wonderfully moist. I was inteding to post a picture on my blog - but they all got eaten before I thought to take a snap!
I made this same recipe in a 9 inch springform cake pan. Non stick with a light coating of butter. 350 for 65 minutes. Turned out perfect.
Just made this cake with the last pint of Guinness left over from our St Patty’s Day revels. And it’s delicious!
I did want to mention, however, that my cake took a full 50 minutes to bake. Maybe our oven temps are different or maybe because I used my fancy Nordicware bundt pan that looks like cathedral arches, but at 35 minutes my cake was still mostly batter. The extra bake time did the trick, though. What a moist, yummy cake. Definitely one that will make it into regular rotation at our house.
I’m delurking to say that this cake has officially set my role in family gatherings. I brought it to a family dinner and now I don’t think I’m allowed to show up to anything ever again without it or I might be disowned. Two things about my baking experience, one is I used non-dutch process cocoa because it’s what I had and it was fine, and second I used bittersweet chocolate for the frosting, also because it’s what I had in the pantry. The bittersweet ganache was fantastic, I’ll do it again that way. Paired with a good vanilla ice cream the sweetness wasn’t overpowering and the complex chocolate flavors really came through. yummy! Also, flour those bundt pans! I didn’t the first time and my trash can was the recipient of my hard work. I floured the @&%* out of it the next time and it slipped out and was still beautiful.
I made this cake on Sunday– I just happened to have all of the ingredients, so I figured, why not? It’s delicious, and I think I’m going to make another one to take to a party on Saturday.
Thank you!
I’m a big beer geek and I made this recipe two nights ago with a considerably darker and more aggressive stout - Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. The results were excellent - so much dark rich flavor and only 3/4 cup of cocoa!
Seriously? Maybe the most delicious cake I have ever made. I made it for my husband’s birthday. He LOVES Guinness, chocolate and cherries. In order to make it cover all of those bases I added a cup of unsweetened, dried cherries while getting the butter and stout to simmer. Then I skimmed them out and added them to the ganache for a little sweet pop. My cake took 60 minutes before the tester came clean (I have an old gas stove). I greased my pan thoroughly with Pam and didn’t have any problems getting it out of my no-stick bunt pan. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I’ll not only use this one over and over again, but I will be back for more!
I made this last night, the first “from scratch” cake I’ve ever made. It was AMAZING. My mother said it was the best chocolate cake she’s ever tasted. I loved that the flavor was so chocolate-y, but not in a sweet way. Just really rich and delicious. I had a bit of cake stick to the bundt pan, but I just stuck the pieces back in and covered it with the ganache. Next time I’ll be a little more ruthless in my spraying. I’ll definitely be making this again - THANK YOU!
After the obligatory wait in the queue, I made this cake yesterday when I had some friends over, and they all raved (of course!). Alas, I also had a problem getting it out of the pan in one piece - I am a putz and it ended up falling all apart. BUT! I saved the cake - I just broke it up intentionally and put it in a casserole dish and then drizzled it with the ganache. It still looked pretty, and duh, it tastes the same. Oh and mine also took about 45-50 minutes. Worth every second of the wait!
I’ve had this book marked for months and just made it for a party full of doctoral candidates and professors. It won RAVES and is my new go-to party/chocolate emergency cake. Can I ask, what are the white chocolate dots in the picture? Are they melted? Can you tell me so I can replicate them? They look divine. Thanks!
Hi… this is a belated comment, but I am about the make this cake tonight. I am looking at your recipe and it says 6 tbsp sour cream. The original recipe called for 1 1/3 cup. 1 1/3 cup = 16 tbsp + (5 tbsp + 1 tsp) ~ 21 tbsp, right? Then in half that would be just over 10 tbsp. Maybe I’m making a really dumb mistake on the math - let me know!! Besides, I’m sure it would come out great either way
Hi Rachel — The original recipe was intended to yield 3 8-inch layers. I halved it to make one bundt cake. 1 cup = 16 tablespoons, so 2/3 of a cup would be 10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon and ohmygod you are absolutely right, the recipe is shorted a few tablespoons of sour cream! Evidently, from the reviewers comments above, this made little difference in the final product (can we say “phew!”),including mine, however it would be more accurate to use 10 tablespoons (I think we can safely leave off that teaspoon, eh?). I will update the recipe accordingly. Thanks for the sharp eye!
I love this recipe x 1,000,000 - I found it on Epicurious back in early May, when I decided to bake cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday. The flavor of the cake is so much more complex than regular chocolate cake. In other words, I agree completely with your excellent assessment.
Unlike all the smart people, though, I made the whole recipe. Which produced 49 cupcakes. FORTY-NINE CUPCAKES. Almost all of which I filled with chocolate ganache (again, you are a smart person - I add coffee to almost every chocolate recipe and should have added it to that ganache) and topped with Bailey’s buttercream frosting. Irish Carbomb Cupcakes, minus the whiskey. Happy Birthday, baby, indeed.
(And finally, I love your writing and photography!)
This sounds absolutely delicious. I’m going to have to try it. I have a question for you. My husband loves Guinness and he has a birthday coming in December. He emailed me a picture of a mug full of guinness beer shaped cake. Does this make sense? Anyway I want to make the cake for him but I truly have no idea where to even begin. It needs to be tall and it looks like fondant was used but I’ve never used fondant. I need a delicious cake that will stand up to whatever I’m going to put it through to make it look like a mug of guinness beer. Any thoughts?
Deb, I made this cake, not once, but twice (!) this past weekend for 2 different birthday celebrations. It was so unbelievably good, it instantly made itself a place in my permanent file. Thank you so much for your wonderful website, I love every inch of it, and have been completely spoiled by your daily postings for Naplahblahblah (I may have to check my spelling on that).
You had me at “ganached guinness goodness.”
Hi, made this cake today and it was great! Family loved it and my friend said she liked the Guinness spike. Thankyou so much for this recipe! Do you think it’s okay to substitute the Guinness for Bailey’s?
OK! I’ve had this one printed out for awhile, but finally had an excuse to make it for a family gathering this weekend. I haven’t *tasted* it yet (officially, that is–unofficially, I had nibbles throughout the process), but it looks and smells fantastic. Utterly fantastic. I’ve got it in a cake-carrier now for transporting to Chicago tomorrow and I keep unlatching and lifting the lid to take a whiff. It is delicious.
Thanks for (what appears to be) another winner, Deb!!!
Will this make cupcakes? I plan to use Deschuttes ABYSS stout - it’ a limited edition brew which I tased last night and instantly thought of chocolate cake! Found this site looking for recipes!
Hi Deb,
I just made this recipe for our super bowl party, and it was fabulous! Thanks so much for converting the recipe and recommending the ganache. Also, this is hands down, the best cake batter I’ve ever eaten from the bowl!
Just found your site the other day and am amazed at the amount of recipes that you and I have both tried. Hubby loves this cake but it is true that when followed to the letter it makes on HUGE (but delicious) cake. Since so many people have liked the baking with booze, here is a great recipe from epicurious that is equally chocolaty and is already in cupcake form! http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108594
This was so good. The ganache topping was amazing!!! A co-worker is leaving here after a few years and going back to Ireland and she loves Guinness so when I found came across this site looking for Guinness recipes, I thought it would be perfect for her going away party. Of course, since I don’t bake often i had to test it first so I made it this week (the party is next week) and brought it in for some other co-workers. Everyone loved it!
The only thing i ran into was after 30 minutes in the oven, it was still moving batter so i left it in for another 20, but I think I should have taken it 5 minutes earlier than I did. Thank you so much. I will be checking back here for great recipes, already pulled off a cookie recipe I must try.
Just wanted to let you know that I made this for my husband’s 50th birthday party over the weekend. We used our homemade imperial irish stout and it was a major success!
This recipe has reached Portugal!
I made this cake yesterday, and it was a huge success!!! Not a single crumb was left :-)
Today I tried it again, but used fresh orange juice instead of the beer. It comes out as moist as the first one, different taste off course, but with this sweet aroma!…
Great recipe!!!
Obrigada por partilhar!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Does anybody know why is there only one birthday for person in a year? what a fool limitation… ;-) I think I’m going to start a new tradition in non-birthday celebrations or something. As you imagine, I can only bake for a “big reason” as a birthday or similar but I have so many recipes to try…
Well, sorry for my english and thank your very much for this recipe, Anamado told be about it and I think it’s going to be a great succes when I finally bake it (hope sooner than later).
I do NOT like chocolate cake, but this cake was delicious!!! However, I did not care for the ganache, as it was too chocolatey for my taste. The next time I make it, maybe I will do a white choclate cream cheese frosting. This cake gets my two thumbs up (says a lot from a non-chocolate cake eater!!) Thanks for the recipe.
Oh yeah, I ran into the same problem as Crystal…30 minutes was not long enough, it was wiggly jiggly in the center. I left it in prob another 10-15 and it was perfect. I had a problem getting it out neatly from the pan also, but I think I tried to do it before it cooled enough. I’m making it for a thank you gift for my neighbors tomorrow. Thanks again for the recipe!!
I’ve made this before and it has always gotten rave reviews, but I just had to tell you that I made it for my office yesterday and they are STILL complimenting me today (And I forgot to change the sour cream and it’s still ridiculously moist and delicious).
Thanks!
This cake has become a staple in my baking repertoire since I discovered it last year. It was how I first came to love and trust your blog. I recently tried some twists on the cake, like baking it in two round pans and using mascarpone frosting. But the twist I must share was discovered last night, St. Patrick’s Day. I made the cake bundt style and when preparing the ganache, I replaced 3 Tbps of heavy cream with a nip of Irish Cream. I also added some Irish Cream tinted whipped cream on the side to cut the chocolate intensity. It was a smash success!
UPDATE..
I made this last night for a small get together. It was even better than the first time! I let it cool completely and it came out of the bundt pan great (last time it did not) I baked for 45 min, it came out perfect and moist. As I said before I am not a huge chocolate fan so I did not care for the ganache, so this time I made a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I cheated for time’s sake…I used about 3/4 container of a pre-made cream cheese frosting and about 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips. I melted the 2 together in a double boiler. Once it was smooth and hot, I poured it over the guiness chocolate yumminess and it cooled hard(not sure if that’s the right adjective..not hard like a rock), not runny. It was insanely good, I was complimented left and right for it!!! YEAH! Thanks again for an incredible recipe….
I have a great story behind the first time I made this cake: My current boyfriend drinks good quality beer and so does his roommates. I made this cake thinking it would be a great “nice to meet you” gift to the 2 other fellows he lives with. That was a year ago, and I’m still getting requests to make this cake! It’s perfect, however I need to bake it a little longer with the 2/3 c. sour cream rather than the 6 tbsp. recipe.
Thanks for the great cake recipe!
I made this cake last night for a party. I made it with 2 cups whole wheat flour. I used Lindt Choolate bar for top. I used half bitter and half semi. I also used a little bit more chocolate. I topped the entire cake with crushed walnuts. Everyone loved the cake. Especially me who does not like chocolate cake.
The only thing I did not like was I could taste the carbornation of the beer. Not sure how to get rid of that. Should I use less or simmer it a little bit more?