sarahcentric

This cake comes with strings attached; a long St. Patrick’s Day story and a big announcement at the end. Please bear with me. The cake is worth it.

Chocolate stout cake is a great way to sneak Guinness into your diet.

I made a version of this cake way back in 2001 for my roommates as a way to incorporate Guinness into my St. Patrick’s Day celebration without having to actually drink the stuff, since my beer palette was still set to college kegs and quarter drafts. My first attempt at a Guinness cake was way more complicated than this with lots of spices, layers, and cream cheese frosting. It was a bit over the top, but perfect for some late 20-somethings and the March 18th hangover, back when St. Patrick’s day was less a chance to celebrate my Irish heritage and more of a Bacchanalian Free-for-All.

It was a magical time when my friends were working hard for the money waiting tables at night, and I was easy-breezy during the day as a temp for what I very maturely referred to as “businesslady companies” like Credit Suisse and Deloitte & Touche…also very maturely referred to as “The Douche”.

We tried our best to pretend we were adults those first years here in New York City. But on St. Patrick’s Day those walls came tumbling down. You can’t expect a bunch of kids with tons of cash in their pockets from a hard-worked shift, and their mooch friend who doesn’t really care if she’s hung over at The Douche to not make fools of themselves all dressed up in green.

Of course, we all Irish step danced even though we couldn’t step dance! And yes, that was probably in front of real Irish people!

Of course, we made out in cabs going home over the 59th Street Bridge! And yes, I had to re-do my bra before we paid the cab driver!

Of course, we made that same cab driver go through the drive-thru at McDonald’s! And yes, we had Guinness cake for dessert!

These things happen.

A lot has changed since that first Guinness cake 9 years ago; the first thing being the cake recipe. When I re-visited the original recipe from my youth and its list of cardamom, ginger, blah and blah, I was bit terrified that it would taste like a St. Patrick’s Day chocolate candle. Smitten Kitchen’s variation looked awesome and direct, a no-fuss recipe baked in a bundt pan to making it look like you fussed. I was right. (I’m always right, p.s.) The biggest mess comes from the chocolate-espresso ganache, which is fine… because I cleaned that up with my fingers.

The biggest change is in the baker herself. I will probably wear green on Wednesday, and there may be a mellow beer or two… but no offensive dancing or offensive McDonald’s meals. This cake was made to be eaten in the bright light of day. It was for a whole new set of great friends who I just happen to work with at Comedy Central, which I have never called “The Douche”. I thought a cake with some beer in it might soothe my nerves before I made my big announcement in our Monday morning meeting.

That after 8 years, I’m leaving Comedy Central…
…and New York City…
…to go to New Zealand…
…in May.

I owe you a lot more detail, but that’s about all I can handle for now. I will tell you all about my “plan”-and I definitely think air quotes with your fingers are appropriate here-soon enough. For now, just make this cake and make out in a cab. And if you see me tomorrow…

Kiss me, I’m Irish.
Kiss me, I’m freaking out.
Kiss me, I’m going to New Zealand.

Chocolate Stout Cake
From the great Smitten Kitchen, which she adapated from Barrington Brewery Recipe by way of Bon Appetit

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.

It’s worth reading Smitten Kitchen’s entry directly for some good tips on this cake. Most definitely butter the hell out of your bundt pan. Trust me; if that thing doesn’t come out you are going to want to die.