Chocolate Guinness Cake

Chocolate Guinness Cake

For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration. The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.

Yield: One 9-inch cake or 12 servings

For the Cake

Butter, for the pan

1cup Guinness stout

10tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter (see Tip)

¾cup unsweetened cocoa

2cups superfine sugar

¾cup sour cream

2large eggs

1tablespoon vanilla extract

2cups all-purpose flour

2½teaspoons baking soda

For the Topping

1¼cups confectioners' sugar

8ounces cream cheese at room temperature

½cup heavy cream

For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

Tip: The recipe for this cake in Nigella Lawson's cookbook "Feast: Food to Celebrate Life" (Hyperion, 2004) calls for 18 tablespoons (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter.

By volume, a 9" springform pan is 10 cups. You can use 2 "standard" 8" or 9" pans instead. Or make 18-24 cup cakes.

I used a 9" square pan and made 6 cupcakes as well (the 9" square has a volume of about 8 cups). I baked the cupcakes for about 25 minutes and the cake for 45.