Chocolate Stout Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups stout beer (or dark beer, such as guinness)
• 2 cups unsalted butter, 4 sticks
• 1 1/2 cups dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 lb bittersweet chocolate (or semisweet chocolate, chopped)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350°f grease and flour three 8" or two 9" cake pans, and line them with parchment paper circles. be sure your 9" pans are at least 2" deep.
• 2 for the cake: place the stout and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts. remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.
• 3 whisk until the mixture is smooth. set aside to cool to room temperature.
• 4 whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
• 5 in a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sour cream.
• 6 add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.
• 7 add the flour mixture and mix together at slow speed. scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute.
• 8 divide the batter equally among the prepared pans. (see tips section for hints on weighing out the batter if you have a kitchen scale.)
• 9 bake the layers for 35 minutes for 8" pans, or 45 to 50 minutes for 9" pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely before frosting.
• 10 for the frosting: place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan.
• 11 pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is completely smooth.
• 12 stir in the vanilla. refrigerate until the icing is spreadable, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.
• 13 to assemble: trim one cake layer to have a flat top, if necessary (otherwise the layer will crack when you place it upside down on your cake plate).
• 14 line the edges of a serving plate with parchment or waxed paper to keep it clean, and then place the layer upside down on top. spread 2/3 cup of the icing over just the top of the layer.
• 15 top with another cake layer, top side down, and repeat the process. if you baked three layers, add that one also.
• 16 use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. remove the parchment or waxed paper. sprinkle with shamrock sugar decorations, if you have them.