Guinness Stout Chocolate Layer Cake
- Yield: 16 servings
- Prep: 40 mins
- Cook: 40 mins
There are other stouts; make variations with chocolate stouts and cream stouts. After all, you can never have too many chocolate desserts in life.
Ingredients
- Drizzling Syrup:
- 1/3cup Guinness Stout (measured after foam has subsided)
- 1/3cup dark brown sugar
- 3tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1teaspoon vanilla
- Cake:
- 2/3cup Guinness Stout (measured after foam has subsided)
- 2/3cup currants
- 1/3cup plus 2 tablespoons, unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
- 3/4cup buttermilk
- 1 3/4cups plus 2 tablespoons, sugar
- 2cups plus 2 tablespoons, all purpose flour
- Cooking spray
- 2/3cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4teaspoon salt
- 1/2cup currant jelly, warmed
- Bittersweet Icing:
- 1 1/2cups heavy cream
- 6ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 1/2tablespoons powdered sugar
- 4 1/2tablespoons cocoa
- 1 1/2teaspoons vanilla
- 1/8teaspoon salt
- 1cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- To prepare syrup, combine all syrup ingredients in a small, heavy saucepan, whisking until smooth. Heat over medium heat, until sugar dissolves and syrup is smooth.
- To prepare cake, pour stout over currants; cover and soak until plump.
- Drain currants, reserving stout. Add stout to a small saucepan. Whisk in 1/3 cup cocoa and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat; add semisweet chocolate, stirring until chocolate melts. Cool slightly. Stir in buttermilk.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Combine 2 tablespoons cocoa, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Coat two 8- or 9-inch square or round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with cocoa mixture.
- Beat butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 3/4 cups sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
- Combine 2 cups flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. (Batter may look curdled.) Stir in currants.
- Divide batter between pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes; invert onto rack.
- Poke tops of cake layers with a skewer or toothpick. Spoon Drizzling Syrup over tops. Place one layer on a platter. Spread warmed jelly over layer on the platter. Chill 30 minutes.
- To make the icing, bring cream to a boil. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl, pour boiling cream over it, and whisk until chocolate melts and is thoroughly combined. Cover tightly and chill. Chill beaters from a hand-held mixture at the same time.
Up to 3 hours before serving the cake, whip chocolate mixture with a hand-held mixer. When soft peaks form, sift in confectioners’ sugar and cocoa and add vanilla and salt. Continue whipping until combined. - Spread about a quarter of the Bittersweet Icing over the jelly. Place second cake layer on top.
- Ice top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing. Press nuts into sides of cake.
Nutritional Info *per serving
- Glycemic Load 16
- Calories 400
- Fat 19g
- Saturated Fat 9g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
- Monounsaturated Fat 4.5g
- Cholesterol 75mg
- Sodium 310mg
- Potassium 180mg
- Carbohydrate 57g
- Fiber 3g
- Sugars 39g
- Protein 6g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Vitamin A 8%
- Vitamin C 4%
- Calcium 8%
- Iron 10%