Black Stout and Irish Cream Cake

From thekitchen of One Perfect Bite...I had no expectations for this cake when I first saw the recipe, but I was asked to make it for a church supper we attended last year and I was really surprised at how very good it turned out to be. It was definitely a keeper, but the kind you put on the back burner and don't often think about. I, truthfully, had forgotten it completely until the Silver Fox asked me to make it for him again this year. The ingredients used to prepare the cake will forever mark it as a St.Patrick's Day dessert, but not the kind that originated in an Irish farmhouse kitchen. While it may not be sophisticated or particularly attractive, this cake is a crowd-pleaser. There's enough Guinness and Irish Cream in it to assure that any snakes left in Ireland are too inebriated to move. The cake is a three step affair, but none of the steps are time consuming or difficult to accomplish. There are, however, a couple of potential problems. It is very important to thoroughly spray and line the pans you use. The cake wants to stick and it will if your pans are not properly prepared. I also think the recipe makes way more glaze/ganache than is needed to finish the cake. Last year, I had more than half of it leftover, so I scaled back this year to more modest proportions. While I've kept the original proportions in the recipe that follows, I wanted you to be aware that you might be dealing with too much of a good thing. This cake is moist and rich and while you can't taste the stout, it deepens the chocolate flavor in the same way as the addition of espresso might. There is a lot of sugar in this cake and that assures that no overtone of bitterness from the stout can sneak through to your palate. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and they have even provided a video to show you how the cake is made. You can view it here. I really like this cake and I think those of you who try it will thoroughly enjoy it. Here's how it's made.

Black Stout and Irish Cream Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup Irish stout beer
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
3 cups confectioners' sugar, or as needed
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
Glaze
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely
chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again.
2) Pour stout into a saucepan, add butter, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in cocoa powder until mixture is smooth. Allow mixture to cool. Using an electric hand mixer, beat eggs and sour cream together in a bowl until smooth. Stir in stout mixture to make a smooth, thick liquid.
3) In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour stout mixture into flour mixture, and gently combine with a spatula. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4) Bake until cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into center of a cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool in pans for 5 minutes before inverting the cakes onto wire racks to finish cooling.
5) To make filling: Mix confectioners' sugar, butter, and Irish cream liqueur until mixture forms a smooth and spreadable frosting (add more sugar or liqueur as needed to create the desired consistency). Spread half of frosting on top of each cake.
6) To make glaze: Place chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to almost boiling in a small saucepan, and pour over chocolate. Add butter and stir mixture until chocolate melts and mixture is very smooth. Allow to cool until mixture is pourable but not thin or overly runny, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stack a cake gently on top of the other, frosted sides up, and carefully drizzle chocolate mixture over the cake, allowing decorative drips to run down the sides. Yield: 16 servings.






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