Guinness Chocolate Cake
Cake Ingredients
250 g (1 c. and 2 tbsp) unsalted butter
250 ml (1 c.) Guinness
75 g Dutch process cocoa ( 3/4 c.), sifted
275 g (2 + 1/4 c.) all purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking soda
400 g (2 c.) sugar
2 medium eggs
150 ml (2/3 c.) sour cream
1 tbsp. good quality vanilla extract
Frosting Ingredients
300 g (1 + 1/3 cup) cream cheese
150 g (1+1/2 c.) powdered sugar, sifted
150 ml (2/3 c.) cream, whipped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
Directions
1. Add butter, cocoa and Guinness to a saucepan. Warm over a medium heat and stir until melted. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to cool slightly.
2. Add flour, baking soda and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Pour in the Guinness/cocoa/butter mixture, lightly combine, add the vanilla, eggs and sour cream and beat everything together until well combined. The batter should be thick and dark chocolate in color.
3. Pour into a greased and lined 10″ angel food pan (or another straight-sided tube pan) and cook in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.*Note: This cake is very moist inside, so use your judgment regarding the skewer test. Do not leave in the oven until the cake has totally dried out — cook long enough so there is no uncooked cake on the skewer but there may be a few moist crumbs sticking to it after an hour of cooking. [Please note: Katie baked this in an 8.5" x 3.5" pan. If you make this in a regular angel food cake pan, you should start checking for doneness at least 15 minutes early.]
4. Leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the cake tin and placing on a wire wrack to cool completely.
Frosting Directions
1. Place the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer and beat on a low-medium speed using a whisk attachment (I find a paddle attachment tends to over-beat the cheese). Whisk until the cheese is smooth and there are no big lumps remaining.
2. Gradually, using a large spoon, add in the sifted powdered sugar and beat gently to combine. After 2 to 3 minutes, stop the machine, scrape any excess frosting from the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed until lump free.
3. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream, mixing to fully combine.
4. Place cooled cake on a cake stand and add the frosting, spreading out just to the edge without going over the side (never go over the sides of the cake) until the cake resembles a pint of the creamy black stuff! The idea is to capture the essence and simplicity of a pint of Guinness.
