Chocolate Guinness Cake

Get in the mood for St. Patrick's Day with this rich, chocolatey, moist, out-of-this-world chocolate guinness cake from Simply Recipes contributor Garrett McCord. And for more ideas, see our St. Patrick's Day recipes section. ~Elise

I'm not a big chocolate person. Nor am I a huge stout drinker. Yet, combine the two together in this cake and you'll have my attention.

The two ingredients have a lot of dark, husky flavor notes in common and combined with a bit of flour, sugar, and sour cream they blend into a rich as old money dessert that's perfect for any St. Patrick's day party. A simple cream cheese frosting blends perfectly with the slightly bitter crumb and makes it all the better. This cake is best served with a pint of stout or porter beer, such as Guinness, so be sure to buy a six pack so you have enough to drink with your slice of cake.

This recipe is a riff on the classic Nigella Lawson recipe, but with some of the white refined sugar replaced with dark brown sugar which brings out some of the malty, twangy flavors of the beer; and a bit of salt added to highlight the chocolate. For something sweeter use all white sugar and add a tablespoon more of cocoa powder.

Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup stout or porter beer, such as Guinness
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
• 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cream cheese frosting recipe

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 or 9-inch springform pan with butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.

2 In a large saucepan place the beer and butter. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter has melted. Add the cocoa powder and sugars and whisk together. Take off heat and allow to come to room temperature.

3 In another bowl beat together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until very, very well combined. Add to the butter-beer mixture and whisk together.

4 In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the beer-butter mixture and whisk together until it just comes together. Pour into the prepared pan and give the pan a few short drops onto the countertop to shake the air pockets in the batter to the surface and out of the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edge to separate the cake from the pan and pop the ring off the springform.

5 Spread frosting on the cooled cake and serve.

Yield: Makes one 8 or 9-inch cake