chocolate stout cake
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 the Barrington Brewery in Great Barrington, MA via Bon Appetit
This recipe was originally intended to make a layer cake of 3 8-inch 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.
* 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?
oh my. i don’t have a bundt pan, so i used this same quantity and made two cake rounds with it. chocolate ganache and strawberries on top (and in between the layers, of course), drove everyone at our dinner party nuts! so moist, so delicious.
I have seen this on Epicurious, but I just never got around to trying it. I love that you fixed the recipe to fit the pan better!
I made this last night for my work people and they couldnt get enough. They were standing next to it eating piece after piece :)
this will be my ‘go to’ cake from now on – the ganache too!
I started making this last December for a friend’s birthday party, and I’ve become famous among all of the people I know for it. It’s the best chocolate cake anyone’s ever had, and it’s sooo easy to make! I’ll be returning to this recipe for years and years to come.
This is by far the best cake I’ve ever made… and completely gorgeous with the ganache and a few shaved chocolate curls on top. My three-year-old daughter *liberally* buttered the bundt pan for me, and the cake slid right out after cooling. It was all so easy to make, I could hardly believe how perfect the texture and taste turned out. I’ll definitely be making this again!
i make this cake for every birthday. My family loves chocolate! I sometimes add some chips to the batter to make it extra chocolately. delish.
i was wondering if this cake can be made into layers with a raspberry curd type filling in between the layers?? but what to use as a frosting…? HELP!
what are the little white circles decorating the top of the finished cake? pieces of white chocolate?
Thanks!
Rachel
They are white chocolate discs for baking from Guittard. At the time, Fresh Direct kept sending me the wrong chocolate (white when I ordered dark) so I had a collection of them. As soon as you drape the ganache, while it is still warm, you can put the white chocolate pieces in and they’ll meld with the dark chocolate to become smooth.
i made this cake on saturday and i doubled the recipe since i was making a three layer cake. (using 3-9″ rounds) and i had extra batter for cupcakes… BUT the cupcakes came out so ugly… the middles sunk in!! and the cake middles are sunk in too. WHYYY did this happen? i can cover it with frosting and strawberries but i would like to avoid this next time. any ideas?
Hi Jeannette — There are a billion reason why a cake can sink–too much leavening, not enough flour, your baking soda could have expired, it could have been underbaked, you were at a higher altitude, something could have been measured wrong–as you can see, the possibilities are almost endless, and I can’t be sure of what happened in your kitchen. That said, I have had great success with this cake when made as directed above. Perhaps you’ll have better luck next time.
Deb,
I’ve been drooling over your site for a while now (your pictures are fabulous) and this is the first thing that I’ve actually made. It didn’t live to see the next day, and there were only four of us eating it. I’ve got another one in the oven right now actually that I’m bringing to a luncheon. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
Deb, your website has definitely become my favorite food blog. Your witty way of writing about things never fails to amuse me, and the pictures you include with each article are amazing. You’re just great! :) I’ve never actually tried any of your recipes, but I’m sure they’re all wonderful. I love going through your archives, it’s definitely one of my favorite ways to spend a lazy day. :)
hi deb,
thanks for this recipe – it’s awesome. i was looking at your recent pumpkin pie recipe with only vague interest as i’m not much of a pumpkin pie person and i spied this, which you had made 2 years ago on that day. what luck! i just made it and it’s amazingly good. i used st peter cream stout and we drank the rest of the bottle with the cake. yum. oh, and we ate the cake with il laboratorio malt gelato on the side. it was still warm, so didn’t do the ganache thing. will ice the rest with the ganache in the morning!
oh, also, i don’t have a bunt pan so used a normal 9″ cake pan and it took a while to cook – an hour exactly.
This is a fantastic recipe. I made it last night, but used a mini-bundt pan instead of a full size. It took 20 minutes on the dot, and the little cakes are fantastic – perfect single servings. I used powdered sugar instead of ganache. It’s great for the flavor, though I imagine the ganache would moisten things up a bit.
Thanks so much! I’m sending people this recipe all over the place.
I made this cake for my family at Christmas and it was a huge hit- so much so that my stepdaughter asked me to make it again this week for her birthday cake!
I used Shakespeare stout, which cost about $6 PER BOTTLE!!!! but Hubs says is the best thing ever. I tasted a spoonful while measuring it into the batter and made such a face that he and my FIL about died laughing… but then stout’s never been my thing. Sure was great in the cake, though.
Um, why not use an actual chocolate stout to make it?
I’ll be trying this cake! Reminds me of great chocolate cake recipe from Judy Rosenberg’s “All-butter Fresh Cream Sugar-packed Baking Book” (one of those cook books you want to make every recipe) that uses coffee and sourcream. Another good — and EASY — chocolate cake is Wacky Cake: old recipe from Depression Era that doen’t use eggs but is really moist and chocolatey.
My fiance loves Guinness and I love chocolate. At last, a comprimise!
I just made this cake for a party last night, and it was perfect! It was unbelievably moist and chocolaty. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I made this cake yesterday for a birthday and oh my lands… it’s amazing…I knew it was going to be good… but everyone thought it was amazing. So moist and rich… perfect!.
Yes, yes… this is one AMAZING cake! It is my most requested chocolate cake, and my personal favorite chocolate cake. I’ve made the full batter version which produces three cake layers and calls for whisking the ganache (I actually whip it).
I’ve never used all of the layers in one cake, though. I split each of the three cakes horizontally to make six layers, which I make into two three-layer cakes or one four-layer cake and then a “half cake” of the remaining layers. I make one full recipe of the whipped ganache recipe for each of the “two” cakes. Any leftover ganache is warmed up again (making it darker in color) and then drizzled down the sides of the chilled cake. It makes a fabulous presentation! If there’s still more ganache left you can pour it over ice cream, or find some other use for it – never, never let chocolate go to waste!!
BTW… If it happens to be that I don’t actually need two cakes I will still do the splitting of the cakes and freeze the unused cakes (unfrosted) to be used another time. The frozen cakes, when eventually used, are still moist and delicious. If freezing the cakes, I recommend double-wrapping each layer individually.
one of the easiest cake recipes i’ve ever encountered and it was soooooo moist and delicious. I’ve had many requests for the recipe!
Wonderful! This is so dang easy and quick, I can’t believe it. Such amazing flavor, and texture. I will TRY-TRY-TRY to wait until it cools in the pan next time….I took it out too early and it crumbled. OMG….it was so good I couldn’t wait. :) Thank you very much for sharing great and easy recipes!!!
My friends and I have a lot of dinner parties and I love to try new recipes to bring to each one. It’s always something new! A while back I ran across a Chocolate Sout recipe and found many many others as well. I’ve tried 3 other Chocolate Stout recipes and this one is by far -THE- best one!!! (This is coming from me and various others who have tried this one after i made it the first time and I’ve since made it many many times!)
Thank you for posting this… you are awesome!!!
Just made this tonight for my knitting group (group theme is hardcore knitting plus dessert). Wow. Wow. Wow. It came out really well even at altitude, and plopped perfectly out of the bundt pan onto the plate which I’d buttered massively; everyone loved it. I skipped the ganache because I’m lazy, and whipped the heavy cream to have on the side.
PS – I think this counts as my three-year-old daughter’s first beer.
Adding frozen raspberries while melting the ganache is a very, very good idea. It certainly saved my bacon after a craptacular salmon dinner. Great cake!
I made this for my husband (really for myself and didn’t tell him) for Valentine’s Day this past weekend. It is so good, I find myself trying to swipe a piece of it even early in the morning before breakfast like yesterday and today. Just don’t tell. This is such a simple, delightful and fantastic recipe. I love it! Oh yes, so did my husband!
A couple of my friends got together this weekend for dinner and I made this cake using Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Good god, this cake is amazing- so moist and rich, with excellent chocolate flavor. I added a bunch of those white chocolate disks to the top (they are so pretty!). They ended up melting a bit because I added them before the chocolate ganache, but it actually created a pretty swirly effect at the top, and it tasted really delicious with the rich cake.
Thank you Deb!!
This is one of the best cakes I have ever made. I sort of improvised for the ganache and added some bourbon to make it more like the Irish car bomb cupcakes elsewhere on your site. I served it with vanilla ice cream. It was a fantastic birthday cake for my husband, thanks so much for the recipe!
i made this recipe as cupcakes last night for a scrabble party. i filled the cupcakes with the chocolate ganache (using the cut-out-a-cone method) and frosted them with a salted caramel buttercream frosting.
they were a Very Big Hit. a Very, Very Big Hit.
Made this cake two days ago and left it sat at room temp in a cake container … this cakes gets better on day 2 or 3. Brought it into work and it was gone within 20 minutes and everyone raved how good it was. Not a sickening sweet cake at all but so satisfying and moist. I look forward to making it again.
I love this cake! I like to serve it it with a liquor-laced black cherry sauce (a recipe I found in Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”) and fresh whipped cream. I may have to make this soon as I’ve been craving this like crazy lately.
do you think you could make these as cupcakes?
They have been made as cupcakes, by other commenters (#35) and also on this site.
This recipe is amazing!!! I made them into cupcakes and it makes 24 perfect cupcakes as a half recipe. I baked them for 19 minutes at 350 degrees. I used Guiness Extra Stout and the Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder and they are moist with a complex flavor.
My sister got me onto your site and this is the most amazing cake ever! I made mine in a cake tin though as I don’t have a bundt, and it took aaaaaages, but it didn’t seem to do it any harm. My boyfriend absolutely raved over it and even his British parents said it was “awesome”. It is definitely going in my book of recipes to make again!
I just made this cake today for my little brother’s 21st birthday. It worked out perfectly since we also decided to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day again, complete with corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes, and Guinness for drinking. This cake made an AMAZING ending to the meal. Thank you so much for the pictures, ganache and for halving the recipe. I followed it exactly as directed, and it was, for lack of a better word, perfect. I hate chocolate cakes that are too sweet; the rich chocolatey flavor of this cake is THE best. Thank you so much.
This is my new favorite chocolate cake …and I’m not even that big of a chocolate fan! For the ganache, I used a mixture of semisweet chips and some creme de menthe chips I had left over in my cupboard — delicious! I didn’t have time to let it cool completely, but didn’t have too much problem removing it from the pan. Thanks!
hey! whats the diff between using Dutch or non-Dutch processed cocoa powder? thanks!
Here you go!
I’m making this for my niece’s baby shower Saturday! You rock Deb!
Hi Deb :) I just saw this recope at Jen’s ‘use real butter’ website and would love to try it, but I am wondering whether if there is anything I could substitute for the stout? I know that’s a dumb question since the stout is the other important element of the cake aside from the chocolate, but I do not drink alcohol but I love a plain (no whipped cream, powdered sugar or ganache) chocolatey chocolate cake. I was thinking maybe using coffee instead of stout but I am worried that it will effect the texture of the cake. I was thinking the coffee will not evaporate as much as I am guessing the alcohol in the stout does when in the oven and if I sub in coffee i will get a soggier cake. I am tempted just to buy stout to use in this cake since everybody says this cake is so yummy! – but any suggestions for a substitute would be helpful. Thanks so much for sharing all you recipes and cooking experiences!
You can try using non-alcoholic beer. The idea is to get the hops-y flavor the beer imparts, not the alcohol.
The hubs suggested adding chocolate chips to the batter. Do you think mini-chocolate chips would sink to the bottom during baking?
I came across your blog a couple months ago, and I really enjoy it. This cake is not the first recipe of yours I’ve made, but this is my first comment. My husband recently discovered that today is his 10K day- he is 10,000 days old today. He wanted me to make him a cake he had never had before to celebrate, so I immediately starting searching your blog. I knew this cake was perfect because I had a Rogue mocha porter in the fridge that I just hadn’t been in the mood for lately. We whipped up the cake, and upon tasting the first finger-full of batter I knew it would be marvelous! It’s in the ove
n right now, and it smells incredible! Thanks for being so diligent with your blog. I tried food blogging once, but it just seemed to get in the way of my cooking. Can’t wait to eat this cake! (Sorry for the split in the comment. My computer is moody and fickle.)
I made this for a friends birthday- it was a hit! The combo of chocolate with the guiness is just right. And the ganache is what makes this cake stand out. To help keep my cake from sticking to the pan, I got out a pastry brush and buttered every inch of the thing, but it was definitely worth the effort.
How do I store this cake if I make it ahead. In the fridge or room temp. Do you ever serve it with ice cream?
It can be stored at room temperature.
I made this cake last night and it was delicious. The prep was pretty easy too, but I did run into a couple problems. There was so much batter that I thought it was going to overflow in the oven, but fortunately it didn’t, although it came close. Despite brushing the entire pan with melted butter and waiting for the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan, I still had a problem with sticking. For the most part it was fine, but the tops of the decorative humps stuck, leaving the cake flat instead of with a pretty bundt top. I also apparently stink at drizzling. My drizzled ganache looked quite messy, so I ended up spreading it all over the cake like frosting. Then I made little stars of white icing in a circle like you did with the white chocolate. It ended up very pretty. Also, it took much longer in the oven than stated in the recipe, about 45-50 minutes (my oven doesn’t usually take extra long). But it came out perfectly. Very moist, rich, and chocolaty. I even noticed that my picky, dainty-eater friend finished her huge piece.
Any tips for drizzling? My drizzled ganache wasn’t anywhere near as pretty as yours.
There’s basically a small window in between the time ganache is too thin (just runs down and puddles) and too thick (must be spread). You can practice with a few spoonfuls to see if yours is ready yet as it cools. A cool cake can help combat a too-runny ganache, re-warming it slightly can help a ganache that doesn’t want to drip at all.
I originally made this cake using the Epicurious layer cake recipe, which made way too much batter for me to work with. I decided to try this recipe as cupcakes so it could be shared at work more easily, and it turned out wonderfully! I just cooked the medium sized cupcakes for 20 minutes, rather than the 35 minutes suggested for the Bundt pan. They turned out just as moist, rich, and delicious as the cake, only in individual sized servings (…it was hard to eat just one, though).
just made this one. my bake time was around 50 minutes as others mentioned. i also used the butter and flour method to prep the bundt pan, and it worked great. it slid out of the pan with amazing ease. i didn’t use guiness, and instead used a dark ale called black toad, which has a really nutty flavor. next time ill let the ganache get a little more hot, because my ganache drip doesnt look as nice as yours! great recipe!
Being a stupid european guy, how do you measure unsalted butter in cups? Cups is to me a measure of “volume”. How much is a stick then, in terms of weight. Help me :)
to Chris: 1 stick in 115 gr. so, in this recipe you will need to use 230 gr. of butter
Nigella Lawson has a version of this cake in her Feast book, she advocates a cream cheese frosting which is fun because it makes the cake look like a pint of Guinness!
I just made this cake this morning and left it to cool for several hours. I only had He*she*s Cocoa and light sour cream. Also, my stout was Guinness Extra Stout. I baked it in a stoneware bundt pan which I liberally buttered and then dusted with cocoa (I don’t like the whiteness flour leaves on a chocolate cake). All but the very crest of the crown released perfectly from the pan. The tiny part that didn’t come out can quite easily be filled in with ganache or frosting, I have yet to decide for sure which way I will go. It is certainly a beautiful cake and very easy to make. And the crest part I sampled? Gracious goodness! Thanks for another keeper for the rotation!
I just made this cake for my dad’s b-day. Of course, in my rush to get it done before he went to bed, I didn’t read past the recipe to see just how much batter was made so I ended up making 2, 2 layer cakes! It’s a LOT of cake, but I think he liked having a choice since I decorated them differently. Thanks for the suggestion! It’s a real hit for a chocolate lover!
I used this recipe to make cupcakes last night and they were amazing! I added some coffee-flavored Bailey’s to the ganache which turned out nice.
Just made this in honor of National Bundt Cake (Pan) Day! About 50 minute baking time and waited for the cake to cool before flipping it- I didn’t have any problems getting it out in one piece. Question: My ganache turned out kind of grainy-looking, not pretty and shiny. And it didn’t pour very well. I didn’t make any substitutions and used good chocolate…thoughts?
The chocolate may have gotten too warm and split. That’s usually what causes graininess in chocolate, so that’s my hunch.
hey there,
how would this cake work to make a day early–would it dry out? how would you recommend storing it?
It stays pretty moist. Room temperature, keep it covered.
I was making this cake yesterday and realized that it made for a really good gift for a baker. I wrote about it here:
http://bobbilewin.blogspot.com/2009/12/holiday-gift-idea.html
The smell that is pervading through my tiny apartment right now is so wonderful. I’m making a princess castle cake for my daughters birthday, using the cake recipe and the cupcake frosting, then dusting it with “sparkles” (my daughters word for sprinkles.) Yay!
This cake is, without a doubt, one of the most delicious I’ve tasted, and my taste testers last night agree unanimously. This is the cake to win hearts and minds, folks.
This is one of the best chocolate cakes EVER! It’s so Moist. I have taken to making it with Brooklyn Chocolate Stout and am onto baking my fourth one. It’s so simple as well! Thank you!
This cake looks really good but after reading all the ingredients carefully I cannot tell what the white things are on the top of the frosting. Could you please explain them?
They are white chocolate baking discs (see comment #74) that I pressed in while the ganache was still warm.
I just wanted to pipe in and say that I use a silicon bundt pan and this cakes cooks in 35 minutes and doesn’t stick at all (I still butter the pan) the silicone pan can feel a little unwieldy but it works great and in a tiny kitchen like mine a big ornate pan you can smush and fold to fit in a drawer is a real windfall.
Also I’ve used the Bailey’s frosting from your Chocolate Whiskey and Beer cupcakes and I love it for a contrast. It looks pretty too.
Hey there! First time commenter, long time reader/recipe-participater. Just made this cake tonight, and I feel like I can bake anything now! Your recipe yielded an exquisite and enjoyable cake! Thank you for the easy-to-follow instructions, and lovely anecdotes in the beginning.
I had great sucess with this recipe at Thanksgiving, using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder for the cake and Ghirardelli chips for the ganache. I froze half in a freezer bag and served it again last night (nearly two months later)- still delicious! Thank you Deb, for this great site, and thank you to all the commenters who make every recipe an education.
Have recently made this cake for my father and father-in-law’s birthdays, but in traditional round cake form (it yielded 3 nine inch rounds). I used 2 of the rounds as a layered cake with the chocolate ganache as both filling and cover. The 3rd round made for an elegant single layer cake, using the rest of the same batch of ganache. I still had much more ganache leftover than I needed and – aside from all the ecstatic praise this cake received – the one issue was its heaviness. This is a deliriously decadent cake, which serves better as a bundt than a traditional (double layer) cake. The single layer was much more manageable… one could consume more than an 1/8th inch sliver!
I’m so glad to stumble on this in your archives – this is my FAVORITE cake ever, but I’ve always been too scared to halve it (fearing to mess with such a good thing). Whenever I make it I fill up three 6″ rounds, all my cupcake tins, and usually some other random pan. I will say this, it freezes beautifully. But it is dangerous to have cake that is THAT good lurking in your freezer – it never lasts long. So glad to know that it CAN be done! If anyone could do it – you can!
p.s., for a change of pace, try adding some Baileys to a buttercream frosting – it lightens it up a bit and gives it a little something different.
OK, I made this over the holidays, for people who insisted on the original icing. It was probably the best chocolate cake ever, except that it was a bit dry the next day. The solution to that, of course, is to feed it to enough people so that it doesn’t have to wait around!
I’m going to try it again, now we’re back in Scotland (and can get Guinness NOT brewed in Canada!). I’ll go for the ganache, because it sounds so much better. And I’ll make it one morning before work, and they’ll simply gobble it down, I’m sure. :)
Holy moly was this GOOD. Made it for a family birthday party and even the “no chocolate cake” eaters (who are they?!) liked it. Used Guiness this time, but a great local brewer has just come out with a chocolate stout that I will definitely be trying the next time.
I made this tonight, but either i didn’t butter the pan enough, or I didn’t wait long enough to try to get it out of the mold. either way, it’s delicious. even if it’s a pile of cake, instead of a cake. =)
WONDERFUL cake, I have made for end of the year parties, St Pats parties, and just yesterday with my son for his chemistry class. FUN HOMEWORK.
Any suggestions on good chocolate for the ganache and how much to cool it before drizzling?
For the “ganache” – I prefer just to put some semi-sweet chocolate, or unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler – and simply add Bailey’s or Khalua until the consistency becomes smooth. Then simply drizzle that over the top. It also hardens a bit and give a nice texture. The Bailey’s/Khalua is a nice touch to compliment the Guinness. Enjoy!