Baking with Beer!

This weekend, I made a chocolate cake with Guinness stout for my sister's birthday. I enjoy cooking with beer and I thought the malt and coffee flavors of the beer would mesh well with dark chocolate.



The result was a dense but still spongy cake with deep flavors and wonderful texture. It is also one of the easiest layer cakes I've ever worked with. The texture of the cake was firm and easy to ice, and because the layers baked perfectly level with no cracks or dips, I didn't have to use a cake leveler. Also, I couldn't find my cake leveler.

Here is the recipe:

4 sticks butter
1 and 1/3 cups cocoa (dutch processed, preferably high quality)
18 oz Guinness or some comparable stout or porter

4 large eggs (room temperature)
1 and 1/4 cups sour cream
2 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour
3 and 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbs baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp salt

Simmer butter and stout, then beat in cocoa powder and allow it to cool. In a mixer, whip sour cream and eggs and pour in cocoa mixture. Fold in dry ingredients gently, finishing by hand. Bake in two 8-inch rounds at 350 for 55 minutes.

For the coffee buttercream:
1/2 tsp of espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
3 sticks of butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs whipping cream

Beat the butter at room temperature until fluffy, then beat in half of the sugar. Dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla and add it to the butter-sugar mixture. add the rest of the sugar and the cream and beat on high for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and icing is the desired texture.