Happy St. Patty's Day!I hope you are donning your green shirt, listening to an Irish band of your choice, and sipping back a Guinness. I do have a secret though - I don't actually like Guinness. However, to solve my yearly problem of not being able to partake in this particular St. Patty's Day tradition - I've decided to bake my Guinness in a cake. And oh what a cake it is!
I can assure you if you need to get your "a Guinness a day" for health benefits (as seen by some classic ads : http://www.guinness.com/en-ca/AdsGallery.html?cntry=world&adsclass=classic) - you can try some of this cake!
Guinness Chocolate Cake
Adapted from www.simplyrecipes.com
Ingredients:
1 cup of Guinness
10 TBSP unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 9-inch springform pan with butter
3. Open a Guinness and pour 1 cup into a saucepan – the remainder pour in a glass and drink (or give to someone else). Add butter and cook over a medium heat until the butter has melted.
4. Whisk cocoa powder, white and brown sugar until combined and remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
5. In a large bowl combine sour cream, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Slowly add butter-beer mixture (doesn’t that sound delicious?) and whisk together.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to beer-butter bowl and whisk together until well combined.
7. You will need to make sure your hands are extra clean because you will have to dip your finger in and taste this batter – mmmmm! But remember – you will have the bowl after so don’t go crazy.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and give the pan a few short drops on the counter to shake out any air bubbles.
9. Bake for 55 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to separate the cake from the pan and remove the springform pan edge. Allow to cool on wire rack – COMPLETELY. (At least 3 hours – I did it before I went to bed and iced it the next morning).
Once your cake is completely cooled you may apply this delicious icing!
Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from www.simplyrecipes.com
Ingredients:
½ cup of butter @ room temperature
1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups of powdered sugar (you can add more depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, mix butter and cream cheese together on a medium speed until very smooth.
2. Add vanilla and mix, slowly adding powdered sugar until you get your desired thickness and sweetness.
3. Using a blunt knife or spatula, spread over your yummy cake!
This combo is amazing. Please eat your Guinness cake responsibly.
Éirinn go Brách!
