Chocolate Stout Cake

Active Time 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Servings         16 - 20

 

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans

2 cups stout (such as Guinness)

1½ cups Dutch-process cocoa powder

4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour

4 cups (800 g) sugar

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt

4 large eggs

1⅓ cups sour cream

Frosting and Assembly

2 cups heavy cream

16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Oven rack in the center; heat to 350 degrees. Three 8-inch cake pans should be lined with parchment paper circles and coated with unsalted butter before baking. In a medium saucepan, heat up 2 cups stout and 2 cups unsalted butter to a simmer. 1 12 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder should be added, and the mixture should be smooth. Remove from heat and allow it to cool just a little.

In the meantime, combine 112 tsp. Of kosher salt or 112 tsp. Diamond Crystal salt, 4 cups (500 g) of all-purpose flour, 4 cups (800 g) of sugar, 1 Tbsp. baking soda, and a big bowl. In another large basin, combine 4 big eggs with 113 cups of sour cream using an electric mixer on medium-low speed. Stir in the stout mixture after adding it. Add dry ingredients after cleaning the bowl's sides. Beat primarily together at a modest tempo. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula just long enough to ensure that there are no dry patches left.

 Evenly distribute the batter amongst the prepared pans. Cakes should be baked for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester put into the center comes out clean. After removing the pans from the wire rack, give the cakes 10 minutes to cool. To flip the cakes onto a wire rack and remove the parchment, run an offset spatula over the sides of the cakes to release them. The cakes should be turned right side up and allowed to cool completely.

Frosting and Assembly

In a small saucepan, heat up 2 cups of heavy cream to a simmer. 16 oz. chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate is added once the heat source is turned off. To smooth out the mixture and melt the chocolate, whisk. Frosting should be chilled for around two hours while being occasionally stirred.

Arrange a cake dish or a large plate with one cake layer on it. Use an offset spatula to spread a 2/3 cup of icing evenly over the top. Spread 2/3 cup frosting over the top of the second cake layer before placing it on top. The third cake layer should be placed on top. Use the remaining frosting to frost the cake's top and sides.