Chocolate Stout Cake

image courtesy of... Bon Appétit

This is a cake I made for a birthday party at my wife's work. I thought it was rather strange to add stout to a cake, but I must say that it got rave reviews at her work. I found this recipe in Bon Appétit magazine. If you wish to see the original recipe, please click on the link to Bon Appétit below the picture.


What you need

Cake

• 2 nine-inch diameter cake pans


• Parchment paper


• Off-set spatula


• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate


• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• ½ tsp baking soda


• ½ tsp salt


• 14 Tbsp (1 ¾ sticks) of salted butter, room temperature


• 1 ¼ cups, plus 3 Tbsp of sugar


• 3 large eggs, separated


• ¾ cup chocolate stout (recommended , if you can find it), regular stout, or porter


• 2/3 cup freshly brewed, strong coffee

Frosting

• 1-pound bittersweet chocolate (54% to 64% cacao), chopped


• 2-cups heavy whipping cream


• 1 tsp instant espresso powder

Putting it together

1. First, get everything together that you will need, because you are going to be very busy over the next 30 minutes, or so


2. Separate the eggs and keep them in the refrigerator until needed


3. Butter and flour both cake pans


4. Line bottom of cake pans with parchment paper


5. Butter and flour the parchment paper


6. Set oven rack to middle of oven and pre-heat oven to 350°


7. Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl


8. Place the bowl over a gently simmering water bath, stirring until melted (be sure to keep the chocolate warm)


9. In a smaller bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt


10. Using a whisk mix the dry ingredients well, then set aside


11. In larger bowl, place the butter and 1 ¼ cups of sugar until it becomes fluffy and becomes pale yellow in color (be sure not to skimp on this part, it should take anywhere from 2-4 minutes)


12. Beat in the egg yokes, one at a time. Beat well after each addition


13. Beat in the melted chocolate


14. Ditto the stout and then the coffee


15. Put the mixer on the lowest setting and add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in two increments. Mix only until the flour is just incorporated. You do not want to over-mix at this point


16. Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites and the 3 Tbsp of sugar, until you get stiff peaks


17. Fold the stiff egg whites into the cake mixture, 1/3 at a time


18. Pour the batter into the cake pans


19. Place in oven and time for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean


20. When the cakes are done, place on cooling racks for 20 minutes


21. After 30 minutes, take the rear of a knife and score the sides of each cake


22. Invert the cakes onto the cooling racks, remove the pans and the parchment


23. Allow to cool fully

When you have a minute...

The frosting

1. While your cake is baking, we can get started on the frosting. Don't worry, this part is much easier


2. Chop the chocolate and place in a heat-proof bowl


3. Pour the heavy cream in a sauce pan


4. Add the espresso powder


5. Over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, stirring constantly


6. Pour the cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 1 minute


7. After one minute, whisk the chocolate until fully melted


8. cover and let cool in the refrigerator until it is of spreadable consistency (about 2 hours), stir occasionally

Frosting the cake

1. When the cake is cool and the frosting is ready, using a serrated knife, slice the rounded (top) portions of your cakes, so that they are flat


2. Place one cake cut-side down on your platter/plate




• Tip: to keep your platter clean, take some parchment and cut into strips. Place the strips under the edges of your cake. You will need about three pieces of parchment to make sure the entire platter is covered. When you are done frosting, just gently pull the parchment away and marvel at your clean plate


3. Dump about a cup of the frosting on the cake and spread evenly over the top. You will want roughly about a ¼ inch (6-7mm) thick layer of frosting


4. Place the second cake, cut-side down on top of the first


5. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake


6. Cover with a cake dome and store in the refrigerator




• If you are like most of us and don't have a cake dome, just take a very large Tupperware-type bowl and place the cake on the lid (I use a bit of Velcro on the bottom of the platter and on the lid to attach the two; it also keeps the cake from banging around during transport). Then place the bowl over the cake and seal


7. Before serving, let the cake come to room temperature

I hope you enjoy it!