I was looking for a scratch chocolate stout cake recipe, and found this in several places on the web. I’ve never been to (or heard of) the place that it supposedly originated. This cake is a very dense, moist, fudgey chocolate cake. It’s not light and fluffy – almost a cross between a cake and brownie texture.
Chocolate Stout Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper. Butter paper.
- Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups 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 1 1/2 teaspoons 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. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.
What is a stout cake?
It is a cake that uses beer as part of the liquid. it works with the baking soda to raise the batter.
In this recipe, you actually cook the stout with the butter and cocoa, so it cooks the bubbles out... You are left with a very dense, moist cake (like in brownies where you usually start with melted butter and chocolate). The Guinness really enhances the chocolate flavor and mkaes it VERY intense, similar to what coffee does in a cake, but with a bit of a different flavor profile.
Tried this recipe in the past and it was a hit! Highly recommended.
What frosting recipe would you recommend for this cake?
I came across this recipe on the Epicurious website. Made it, and it was amazing! Very dense and fudge. Makes a great carving cake. The recipe calls for 2 cups of stout, but the bottle I bought had only 1.5 cups so I added coffee to make the difference. Yum! This is now my go to chocolate cake.