posted on 3/16/10 by jill
If drinking green beer isn't your thing, bake a cake this St. Patrick's Day. Here is a cake using Guinness beer, that we featured in a St. Patrick’s Day article a couple years ago. Also, here is a link to the NPR site, which features an admittedly much simpler chocolate cake with Guinness from Nigella Lawson:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124611065
Photography: Mark Boughton, Styling: Teresa Blackburn
Drizzling Syrup:
1/3 cup Guinness Stout
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cake:
2⁄3 cup Guinness Stout
(measured after foam has subsided)
2/3 cup currants
1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons,
unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces semisweet
chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, sugar
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, all-purpose flour
Cooking spray
2/3 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup red currant jelly, warmed
Bittersweet Icing (see recipe)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup Guinness Stout
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cake:
2⁄3 cup Guinness Stout
(measured after foam has subsided)
2/3 cup currants
1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons,
unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces semisweet
chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, sugar
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, all-purpose flour
Cooking spray
2/3 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup red currant jelly, warmed
Bittersweet Icing (see recipe)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1. To prepare syrup, combine all ingredients in a small, heavy saucepan, whisking until smooth. Heat over medium heat, until sugar dissolves and syrup is smooth.
2. To prepare cake, pour stout over currants; cover and soak until plump.
3. Drain currants, reserving stout. Add stout to a small saucepan. Whisk in 1⁄3 cup cocoa and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat; add semisweet chocolate, stirring until chocolate melts. Cool slightly. Stir in buttermilk.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Combine 2 tablespoons cocoa, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Coat two 8- or 9-inch square or round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with cocoa mixture.
6. Beat butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 3⁄4 cups sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
7. Combine 2 cups flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. (Batter may look curdled.) Stir in currants.
8. Divide batter between pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes; invert onto rack.
9. Poke tops of cake layers with a skewer or toothpick. Spoon Drizzling Syrup over tops. Place one layer on a platter. Spread warmed jelly over layer on the platter. Chill 30 minutes. Cover jelly with about a quarter of the Bittersweet Icing. Place second layer on top.
10. Ice top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing. Press nuts into sides of cake. Serves 16.
Recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon.
2. To prepare cake, pour stout over currants; cover and soak until plump.
3. Drain currants, reserving stout. Add stout to a small saucepan. Whisk in 1⁄3 cup cocoa and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat; add semisweet chocolate, stirring until chocolate melts. Cool slightly. Stir in buttermilk.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Combine 2 tablespoons cocoa, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Coat two 8- or 9-inch square or round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with cocoa mixture.
6. Beat butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 3⁄4 cups sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
7. Combine 2 cups flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. (Batter may look curdled.) Stir in currants.
8. Divide batter between pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes; invert onto rack.
9. Poke tops of cake layers with a skewer or toothpick. Spoon Drizzling Syrup over tops. Place one layer on a platter. Spread warmed jelly over layer on the platter. Chill 30 minutes. Cover jelly with about a quarter of the Bittersweet Icing. Place second layer on top.
10. Ice top and sides of the cake with the remaining icing. Press nuts into sides of cake. Serves 16.
Recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon.
Bittersweet icing
To make the icing for the Guinness Stout Chocolate Layer Cake, boil the
cream and melt the chocolate a day ahead to allow plenty of time for
the mixture to chill. Once the cake is iced, keep it cool.
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet
chocolate, finely chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet
chocolate, finely chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1. Bring cream to a boil. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl, pour
boiling cream over it, and whisk until chocolate melts and is
thoroughly combined. Cover tightly and chill. Chill beaters from a
hand-held mixture at the same time.
2. Up to 3 hours before serving the cake, whip chocolate mixture with a hand-held mixer. When soft peaks form, sift in confectioners’ sugar and cocoa and add vanilla and salt. Continue whipping until combined.
2. Up to 3 hours before serving the cake, whip chocolate mixture with a hand-held mixer. When soft peaks form, sift in confectioners’ sugar and cocoa and add vanilla and salt. Continue whipping until combined.
Per serving: 460 calories, 26g fat, 105mg chol., 7g prot., 52g carbs., 2g fiber, 230mg sodium.
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posted on 5/1/09 by jill
When my daughter, Nora, and her friends wanted to make a chocolate
birthday cake for their friend, Alana, they had big ideas. They wanted
to copy a picture of all of them together and emblazon it on the cake,
like a bakery might do.
That's way beyond my scope. I suggested an alternative: Let's cut out pictures of all the girls' faces and mount each one on a skewer, then we'll stick the skewers all over the cake.
As you can see in the picture, it was adorable -- and I'm happy to report it was the hit of the party.
Best of all, for me: No futzing with pastry bags and decorating tips, no huge mess to clean up. We just baked our favorite chocolate cake, frosted it and embellished it.
Sometimes mother is the necessity of invention.
That's way beyond my scope. I suggested an alternative: Let's cut out pictures of all the girls' faces and mount each one on a skewer, then we'll stick the skewers all over the cake.
As you can see in the picture, it was adorable -- and I'm happy to report it was the hit of the party.
Best of all, for me: No futzing with pastry bags and decorating tips, no huge mess to clean up. We just baked our favorite chocolate cake, frosted it and embellished it.
Sometimes mother is the necessity of invention.
posted on 4/25/08 by jill
This past weekend I made, hands down, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. The family agreed. It was a real triumph for me because I have a hard time making plain, simple food. It’s not that I like things complicated and fussy, but I do like them interesting. My daughter’s battle cry is, “please Mom no green stuff in it.” Which means no fresh parsley or basil, and only cilantro in select cases, such as guacamole. But back to the cake. I decided to make a plain classic chocolate layer cake (sans the chocolate ganache or mousse or whatever) because a) it was my son’s first communion and that’s what he requested and b) my Dad was in town and is crazy for chocolate, and not much else. The recipe came from a book I plan to use often—Debra Ponzek’s the Family Kitchen. Everything just looks so tasty and sounds so appealing and straightforward. Here’s the recipe. Oh, a caveat, the procedure is a bit unorthodox for a cake, it’s more like a biscuit procedure, but it worked like a charm, and who knows may be the key to its success. I used a bit less sugar in the frosting, so use 4 cups if you like a super sweet frosting.
Great Aunt Lotties’s Homestyle Chocolate Cake
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/1/2 cups sugar
4 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/1/2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup Crisco
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ cups strong, hot brewed coffee
2 large eggs,
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Homestyle Chocolate Frosting
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch cake pans. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add the shortening and butter and with the mixer on low speed, mix until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal (yes, it really does).
2. In a large glass bowl, stir the baking soda into the coffee. This will foam. Increase the mixer’s speed to medium and add the coffee to the batter. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.
3. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Frost.
4. To prepare frosting, beat cream cheese on medium speed until creamy. Add cocoa and sugar, mix well. Add vanilla and milk, if frosting is too thick. Chill frosting until ready to use. I stored the cake (for all of the 12 hours it lasted) in the refrigerator.
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