Chocolate Stout Cake

I put beer in a cake because that’s the only way I’ll drink beer, and honestly, I don’t know why anyone drinks it any other way. Especially if it’s a fabulous stout, that, when melted with butter and mixed with sugar, produces a honeyed, caramel-y golden potion that made me think I might have unintentionally created Butterbeer and should probably just guzzle it as is. But, pour it into the batter and the end result is a rich, moist, deeply flavoured chocolate cake topped with a stout infused ganache. It is utterly perfect!

I originally posted this cake three years ago on the blog. The cake was to mark and celebrate my Dad’s retirement from the Navy after 36 years. The day left us with all sorts of mixed feelings, as retirement does, but luckily, we still feel the same way about cake. I decided to make it again and take it along when I go meet my folks this weekend, and figured the post could also use an upgrade.

This cake is based off a Nigella Lawson recipe that stayed with me because the cake batter itself is quite basic but the result looked so amazing. All it really takes is basic wet and dry ingredients with a generous cup of stout. If you’re not a beer lover, this cake is for you, because the flavour of the stout is subtle, but it gives depth and a unique, delicious flavour it gives to the cake. It’s kind of strong and silent, just like my Dad 🙂

I decided to skip Nigella’s cream cheese frosting and instead do an improvised ganache. With a bit of stout and sugar, this silky topping is half frosting, half ganache and it’s absolutely delectable. The stout flavour is stronger in the frosting. For the cake batter, I used a smaller amount of sugar and baking soda (I found it rising A LOT last time) and I’ve made some small modifications to the method as well. I also decided not to bother with slicing it in half in the center and leave it as a single layer cake with all the ganache on top. It was a good and less messy decision 🙂

Personally I love this cake freshly frosted and at room temperature, but naturally since it’s a large cake you’re not going to eat it all in one sitting (I assume) so keep it refrigerated and if you don’t have time to let it come to room temperature, very lightly warm up individual slices. Just enough that the cake softens (butter-based cakes firm up in the fridge) and the ganache goes back to melty and gooey. OMG, so good.

This is seriously one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever made or eaten. It’s the perfect gooey, rich treat we all crave once in a while (all the time?) and looks like a million bucks. I hope you’ll try this!

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Chocolate Stout Cake

Rich, moist chocolate stout cake with stout ganache

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Makes: 8 large slices

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Ingredients

  

For the cake

• 1 cup stout beer (250 ml, see notes)
• 250 gms butter, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 cups caster sugar (285 gms)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 gms)
• 2 tsps baking soda
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (65 gms)
• 2 eggs, at room temperature (I haven't tried substitutes)
• 2/3 cup plain yoghurt, at room temperature (150 gms)
• 2 tsps vanilla extract

For the ganache frosting

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips or 115 gms finely chopped dark chocolate (60% to 70%)
• 2 tbsps stout
• 1/3 cup cream, whipping or regular (80 ml)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (or more if you like the ganache sweeter)

Instructions

• In a small saucepan set over low heat, combine the stout and butter, stirring frequently till melted. Turn off the heat, stir in the sugar and set aside to cool a bit.
• In the meantime, sift the flour, baking soda and cocoa in a bowl. Set aside.
• Grease a 9" round cake tin (preferably springform) and preheat the oven to 180 C.
• In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the hand mixer, then add the yoghurt and vanilla and beat to combine well. The mixture might look a little curdled.
• Now add the flour mixture gradually, alternating with the cooled beer mixture, beating on low speed as you go. (A stand mixer helps if you prefer to have both hands free in this step). Make sure there are no lumps in the batter and use the hand mixer to smoothen it out as needed.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes or until the cake has risen and domed and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Start checking for doneness at around 40 minutes.
• Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature before frosting, especially if you plan to slice it in the middle and layer it with frosting.
• To make the frosting, first add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl. Then combine the cream, stout and sugar in a small saucepan, set on low heat. Stir constantly to prevent the mixture from burning or splitting because of the alcohol. Heat until gently simmering then pour immediately over the chocolate. Let it sit undisturbed for a few minutes, then stir to combine and melt the chocolate. If there are a few lumps left, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water (don't let it touch the water) and gently warm the ganache, stirring till it's smooth.
• Set this aside to cool and thicken for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, use a long, sharp knife to cut off any domed or uneven bits from the top of the cake. Then spread the frosting all over the surface of the cake and the sides, if you wish. Let the ganache set on the cake for another ten minutes, then for the best texture, slice and serve immediately!
• Once frosted, the cake needs to be stored in the fridge where it will keep for about a week. Best served at room temperature or lightly warmed. It should also freeze well. While the flavour of the stout is subtle when freshly baked, I found that it intensifies after a few days but in a delicious way! Happy baking 🙂

Notes

*Use any brand of stout you like. I used the Indian brand, Simba. I don't know if this works with other varieties of beer. For other boozy cakes see here and here.

*I like my chocolate cakes intense and kind of bittersweet. If you prefer sweeter cakes, use 1 and 3/4 cups sugar. Nigella Lawson's original recipe uses 2 cups, but I feel that might become too sweet.

*I made this cake using cup measures and the weight measures are based on this King Arthur Baking chart. However, you'll notice Nigella Lawson's conversions differ a little bit. It's not uncommon for different converters to have different results, but the final cake should work out fine either way!

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