Chocolate Stout Cake

I was curious to know if anyone here has ever baked a Chocolate Stout Cake. There seems to be two primary recipes that people use: Nigella Lawson and Barrington Brewery. The most notable difference is the frosting, where Nigella uses a cream cheese frosting and the other uses a chocolate ganache. There are also slight differences in the amt of sour cream, cocoa amt and type, and baking soda (I am halving the BB recipe for my basis of comparison). Anyway, if you've made a chocolate stout cake, which one did you make, and how did you like it?

Years ago, I cut out that recipe from Bon Appetit in 2002 - fortunately it's now easily available online. I typically also scale back the recipe to fit my two 9" cake pans and make a two-layer cake. It has become our standard birthday cake, father's day cake, and take-a-cake-to-the-firehouse cake: I make it several times a year. The stout (I use Guinness, typically) gives it an interesting bitter flavor that is barely distinguishable as beer and offers a counterpoint to the bitterness of the chocolate.

The ganache frosting is a must, and I never scale back that part of the recipe because there can never be too much ganache - I typically use Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips, and Ghiradelli cocoa powder (which IIRC is not dutched) The last time I made a ganache, however, I found that the Ghiradelli bittersweet chips didn't seem up to par, and switched to a 60% bar. IMHO, I'm not sure that cream cheese frosting would work with it: you've got two types of bitter, and you'd be adding a layer of sweet-sour flavor that might fight these nuances. The ganache helps by upping the chocolate ante a bit (without the beer, the cake is just an everyday chocolate cake - the ganache adds the dark chocolate richness)

It is my favorite homemade cake by far, as it is with the rest of the Hays family.

Michele - thank you for the reply. Knowing that it is such a family staple for you gave me a big boost of confidence in the cake. I halved the Epicurious recipe and used two 9-inch round cake pans. I am happy w/the thickness of using the 9-inch pans. I baked them on Wednesday night and prepared 1/2 the recipe for the ganache except I added 3/4 tsp of ground espresso to it. It was late at night, and I accidentally put the chocolate in at the same time as the heavy cream and ground espresso.

I finally got to serve it after dinner tonight. This afternoon, I whipped up the ganache to lighten it up and to increase the volume. It was a hit. Everyone had seconds, and I'm really glad it went so well since it was the first time meeting the bf's family. I couldn't really taste the stout though - I think it really just helps bring out the chocolate flavor. I used Penzey's Dutch processed cocoa and Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I've been meaning to reply to this. My girlfriend made me some wonderful Black & Tan cupcakes earlier this year. (not quite stout cake, I know - but close enough) This is her recipe. Low-sugar, as well - for my diabetic brethren. 142 calories, 5.6g fat, 21.5g carbs, 9g sugar, 3g protein per cake.

Bass (or Harp) Cupcakes:

1/3 C Butter
1/2 C Sugar + 1/2 C Splenda OR 3/4 C Splenda baking blend instead of both
2 Large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C Cake flour (not all-purpose, or they'll be too dry)
1 t Baking powder
3/4 t Baking soda
1/2 C cocoa powder
1 C Beer

Beat the butter until smooth, add the sugar(s), beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beat until smooth. Add the vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the butter sugar egg mixture in two batches, alternating with the beer. Fill cups up half way only. Bake at 350º for 18 minutes.

Guinness Caramel Buttercream Frosting

1 C Diabetisweet brand Brown Sugar flavored sugar substitute
1/2 C water
2 large eggs
3 sticks butter, room temperature, plus 2-3 T in reserve, just in case
1/4 - 1/2 C Guinness

Combine the Diabetisweet and water until dissolved, then cook over medium-low heat to 238ºF - the soft ball stage. Meanwhile, beat the eggs until pale yellow and ribbony. Just before the sugar reaches 238, turn on your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and get those eggs going again, then add the sugar VERY SLOWLY in a thin, steady ribbon while mixing. Keep it mixing until the bottom of your bowl is room temperature; it should be looking fluffy and almost marshmallowy. Leave that mixer going, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, letting it beat in thoroughly before adding the next tablespoon. You'll know if you're going to fast because the mixture will get soupy if too much butter is added at once - just take your time and if this happens put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then start again. It will probably look "curdled" at one point - a little chunky and separated - just keep mixing mixing mixing until it seems smoother. Once all the butter is added and your frosting looks smooth and spreadable, add the Guinness VERY SLOWLY, pausing frequently to scrape the sides of the bowl. This could destabilize your emulsion and make it look curdled again - if so, add your reserved butter one tablespoon at a time until it looks smooth again. If you're going to use it immediately, refrigerate for 10 minutes first - the added liquid will make the frosting softer than normal buttercream.

Llama wrote:I've been meaning to reply to this. My girlfriend made me some wonderful Black & Tan cupcakes earlier this year. (not quite stout cake, I know - but close enough)

Llama - could you taste the beer?

Llama wrote:Low-sugar, as well - for my diabetic brethren. 142 calories, 5.6g fat, 21.5g carbs, 9g sugar, 3g protein per cake.

My other take-to-the-firehouse dessert recipe, back when they had a mildly diabetic lieutenant was a recipe from the same era of Bon Appetit Triple-chocolate pudding pie with cappuccino cream (see a theme, here?) If you look through the comments back to 2003, you'll see directions for a sugar-free version I (listed as a cook from Evanston, IL) used to make using Splenda. It's by no means a healthy recipe even without sugar, but since you can add Splenda off the heat, it turns out fairly successfully.

Pucca, it's true, the beer flavor is subtle - you almost have to eat the cake on it's own to really get it, though I think there is a bitterness that doesn't come from the chocolate. I like the idea of the Guinness caramel buttercream; next time I make this for beer lovers, I might do ganache for the filling and that for the frosting or vice versa.

Pucca wrote:

Llama wrote:I've been meaning to reply to this. My girlfriend made me some wonderful Black & Tan cupcakes earlier this year. (not quite stout cake, I know - but close enough)

Llama - could you taste the beer?

Girlfriend in question, here. Yes, actually, in both cupcakes and frosting the beer was detectable (and delectable). The frosting had a strong, sweet Guinness flavor, while the cupcakes more subtle they tasted yeasty and had a slightly bitter (in a good way) aftertaste. Try it out by substituting real sugar 1:1 for the artificial sweeteners if you don't have the dietary restrictions to worry about.

MincyBits wrote:

Pucca wrote:

Llama wrote:I've been meaning to reply to this. My girlfriend made me some wonderful Black & Tan cupcakes earlier this year. (not quite stout cake, I know - but close enough)

Llama - could you taste the beer?

Girlfriend in question, here. Yes, actually, in both cupcakes and frosting the beer was detectable (and delectable). The frosting had a strong, sweet Guinness flavor, while the cupcakes more subtle they tasted yeasty and had a slightly bitter (in a good way) aftertaste. Try it out by substituting real sugar 1:1 for the artificial sweeteners if you don't have the dietary restrictions to worry about.

Thanks for the reply. I think I might try your recipe for Fathers Day or 4th of July. I wonder if the yeasty flavor is due to using both the baking powder and baking soda. I don't know enough about food chemistry, but most of these cakes ask for 1.5 tsp of baking soda for 1 cup of beer and no baking powder.

While you're right about the baking powder being unnecessary (I was winging it and this didn't occur to me, thanks!) I think the yeasty flavor has more to do with the beer.

MincyBits wrote:While you're right about the baking powder being unnecessary (I was winging it and this didn't occur to me, thanks!) I think the yeasty flavor has more to do with the beer.

Agreed that it is probably mostly due to the beer, but I read about it somewhere else on a blog or a review that complained of a yeasty flavor, and that person used both leavening agents.

I have a question that is a bit off topic...
The Black & Tan cupcakes sound neato. I was thinking of making them this weekend and bringing them to a birthday party but the party is at a bar. Would that be wise? Do people eat sweets with beer/hard liquor? Or is this a recipe I should save for another occasion? If it makes any difference, most of the partygoers will be dudes, at least two don't drink booze and one likes wine.

PS How many cupcakes does this recipe make?

Pie Lady-

I can tell you that my group of friends never turns down sweets regardless of what they are drinking. The Black and Tan cupcakes seem to fit naturally into a bar setting.

-The GP

Pie Lady wrote:I have a question that is a bit off topic...
The Black & Tan cupcakes sound neato. I was thinking of making them this weekend and bringing them to a birthday party but the party is at a bar. Would that be wise? Do people eat sweets with beer/hard liquor? Or is this a recipe I should save for another occasion? If it makes any difference, most of the partygoers will be dudes, at least two don't drink booze and one likes wine.

PS How many cupcakes does this recipe make?

The cupcake recipe makes about 18-24, while the frosting recipe makes about a quart - about double the amount you'll need, because it's nice to have it ready in the freezer for next time. Frost them lightly, the buttercream really does have a strong flavor. And for a big group, most of whom don't have dietary restrictions presumably, I'd substitute real sugar for the fake sugar cup for cup.

I may be biased, but I think boozy sweets are fantastic. Regardless, though I haven't done the math, the actual alcohol percentage has got to be extraordinarily low - neither Guinness nor Bass are strong beers, and cooking will dissipate some of the alcohol content in the cupcakes. And yes, very appropriate for a bar setting; black and tans are pretty manly drinks, so I'd say they'd still go over well. Good luck, Pie Lady, and I hope everyone enjoys!

Llama, do you think the caramel buttercream would work with Bass instead of Guinness (so I could make the stout cake but have a Bass or Harp filling?) I may try it anyway, just to see...

Maybe I'm not the best person to ask. I'll eat anything if you say there *might* be stout in it.

I think it would be worth a try and would probably be delicious. You might need to tweak the flavours a bit to get it just-right, but nothing too outlandish.

(I default cooking questions to MincyBits. She's the Chef, I'm just an artist: So my food generally looks good, but the taste is a different question altogether.)

OK, did this for Father's Day with success, so here's the recipe and results:

Manly Man's Black-And-Tan Cake

Stout Cake
1 cup Guinness
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Ghiradelli)
Butter and cocoa to prepare pans
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
1/2cup + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring stout and butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool as you prepare pans and remaining ingredients. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper. Butter paper. Dust with cocoa.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in one bowl to blend. In another large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream to blend. Add stout mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture to stout mixture and mix on slow speed until lightly mixed. Fold with a spatula until completely combined. Divide batter equally between 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.

Caramel Ale Filling
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 C water
2 large eggs
3 sticks butter, room temperature, plus 2-3 T in reserve, just in case
1/4 - 1/2 C Harp or Bass
1-2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

In a heavy saucepan, dissolve sugar in water; cook over medium-low heat to 238ºF - the soft ball stage. Beat the eggs until pale yellow and ribbony. Just before the sugar reaches temp, whisk eggs with stand mixer, (this is difficult but not impossible to do without a Kitchenaid, which I lack) adding sugar VERY SLOWLY in a thin, steady ribbon while mixing continuously. Keep mixing, carefully checking the bottom of the bowl with your hand, until the bowl reaches room temperature; the mixture should be fluffy. Continue mixing, adding butter one tablespoon at a time, incorporating thoroughly before adding the next tablespoon. (If you're adding too fast the mixture will get soupy - if this happens put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then start again.) It may look chunky and separated; keep mixing until it smoothes out. Once all the butter is added and the frosting looks smooth and spreadable, add the beer VERY SLOWLY, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of confectioner’s sugar to help stabilize. If it separates, whisk in reserved butter one tablespoon at a time until it looks smooth again. Refrigerate 10 minutes before use - the filling is softer than normal buttercream.

Chocolate Ganache Icing

2 cups heavy cream
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)

Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.

Assembly:
Working with a completely cooled cake, make a thick “dam” around the top outside edge of the bottom layer with icing. Fill thickly with the buttercream filling;

top with top layer.
Frost entire cake with a thin layer of icing to crumb coat;

then repeat with a thicker layer and decorate as desired—the cooler the icing is, the more thick and spreadable it becomes.

Serve.


As you can see, this is a compliation of the recipes everyone provided above, tweaked and sized for an 8" round two-layer cake (though I did have leftovers of both icing and filling, not a bad thing) I'm not a candymaker, so I had a bit of trouble with the caramel and wound up needing to sieve the final icing to get out the lumps of brickle (which I suppose I could have left,) but other than that, it worked fine with the 1/3 cup of Bass I used - although the flavor wasn't as pronounced as I'd like. Much as I hate the flavor of confectioner's sugar in icings, I added a couple tablespoons to the finished buttercream to help stabalize it - as I was using the piping bag, the heat from my hand did cause it to break a little, but nobody noticed it but me.

Again, the beer in both the chocolate cake and the buttercream are definitely background flavors; I wonder if it would be possible to amp up the ale flavor by reducing it first, and then adding a bit to keep the alcohol note. That being said, it does nicely deepen the flavors of both the chocolate and the caramel; it's a wonderful, rich cake. I've always felt the plain version I do seems a bit unfinished; the caramel filling was just what it needed.

Mmm... your cakes looks great! I was curious to know what the ganache would look like since I ended up whipping mine, which lightend the color of the frosting. I have volunteered to make this cake for a family gathering next month, so I think I might be adapting some new tips from this post. Thanks!

Pucca, be sure to post whatever tweaks you make! Also, thanks to llama and MincyBits for the filling and the black-and-tan idea!

thanks i used the recipe above and made cupcakes out of it for a friend. i didn't like the recipe i had used previously, but i like this one alot. it made a little 32 standard size cupcakes but i used an irish cream frosting, so i could decorate.

The Baileys buttercream icing recipe
1 cup real butter
3 cups powdered sugar
6 Tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
Small drizzle vanilla extract(real)
Milk - if needed for desired consistency

*Beat butter in bowl to loosen up and coat bowl/beaters
*Add in the powdered sugar and Baileys, mix slowly to combine, then beat to mix thoroughly.
*Add the vanilla extract and milk if needed, whip until it lightens in color slightly.[/img]

i didn't need any milk, it piped nicely

So I made the cake again on Saturday night for a family gathering on Sunday night. Since it was fresher than my first cake, it didn't have enough time for all the flavors to mingle. Again, I halved the original recipe on epicurious, and followed it to a T to make two 9-inch layer cakes. For the middle layer, I made Dorie Greenspan's chocolate malt buttercream. However, for part of the boiling water, I used Guinness. This made the frosting quite bitter - the bite from the beer was very notable. I covered the cake w/the chocolate ganache, which I whipped for volume and lightness. I used 1/2 semi sweet and 1/2 dark chocolate. I ate a slice tonight, and it was much better than last night. I think I will stick to the whipped ganache frosting and alternate between instant espresso or Bailey's in the frosting.

Llama wrote:I've been meaning to reply to this. My girlfriend made me some wonderful Black & Tan cupcakes earlier this year. (not quite stout cake, I know - but close enough) This is her recipe. Low-sugar, as well - for my diabetic brethren. 142 calories, 5.6g fat, 21.5g carbs, 9g sugar, 3g protein per cake.

Thanks for including nutritional info! Is that for the cupcake *with* frosting or just cupcake? (Either way, I'll be making these sometime soon!)

That's cakes only - using half the recipe of frosting on the full batch of cupcakes (which is about right; it's got a strong flavor) adds approx. 110 calories per cake, and probably an ungodly amount of fat, not too many carbs, and a bit of protein if you use the sugar substitutes I reccomended. Otherwise, the calorie calculator I used was at http://www.sparkrecipes.com and it's easy to use if you'd like to tinker with the recipe. I don't have the results saved (and frankly I'm too lazy to look it up again).

In case I forget to post later, this Christmas I'm making the Gourmet recipe for Chocolate Stout Cake which includes prunes and struck me as a chocolatey-beery plum pudding rather than a traditional cake. I'm going to try making a traditional "hard" sauce with ale instead of brandy.

I'll post a review (I will say that it smells good) - if I forget, somebody give me a nudge.

The Chocolate Stout Cake recipe from Fine Cooking is outstanding:
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/reci ... -cake.aspx

You probably need an online subscription to view the recipe, but it is worth finding.
from Fine Cooking 61, pp. 46
December 1, 2004.

Cheers, Jen

BTW, I mentioned it elsewhere - I tried the Gourmet recipe and liked it quite a lot. As I'd predicted, it's more like a plum pudding than a cake - which was perfect for Christmas. The accompanying stout crème anglaise was also very good.

I made the Guinness Stout Ginger Cake for the first time this past Christmas. I tried it with powdered sugar the first time, and then whipped cream the second time. I was pleased, and people enjoyed it. It was very moist, but even with the addition of ground ginger and fresh ginger, I did not find it to be as pronounced as I had hoped. If I make it again, I will add some chopped crystallized ginger.

mado restaurant makes a delicious ginger stout cake (i forget whether it also is chocolate). the nice touch i want to mention is a spoonful of candied pistachios and, i think, chopped up dried apricots, also candied served on the side, along with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. the nuts and fruit were sitting in sugar syrup, which one could leave alone or add to each forkful of just-right-not-too-sweet cake. justjoan

mado, 1647 n. milwaukee, chicago

I had a Guinness Stout Cake slice the last time I was at the West Side Market in Cleveland last year. The cake was chocolatey but there was no flavor of ginger. The beer added a very complex flavor to the cake.

Today's Smitten Kitchen blog has "car bomb cupcakes." It's the chocolate stout cake with the ganache as a filling and bailey's buttercream frosting. Yum.

Pucca wrote:I made the Guinness Stout Ginger Cake for the first time this past Christmas. I tried it with powdered sugar the first time, and then whipped cream the second time. I was pleased, and people enjoyed it. It was very moist, but even with the addition of ground ginger and fresh ginger, I did not find it to be as pronounced as I had hoped. If I make it again, I will add some chopped crystallized ginger.

Funny . . . I've made this recipe twice and loved it both times. In fact, it's my very favorite gingerbread cake-type recipe and I love the flavor the other spices and Guinness deliver to the cake. I also prepared a pear-caramel sauce to serve with it and I thought it was the perfect complement.