It all began here. I was mesmerized by the beautiful dark and luscious chocolate cake ( I wonder how many people are like me out there...you know - be mesmerized by seductive pictures of food!). My "house cake" for years when we lived in Canada was lemon poppy seed cake with a tangy lemon glaze. It was my go to recipe whenever we had guests from out of town.
But now I am in the mood for something new. I am on the look out for at least 3 cake recipes that require minimum fuss and maximum delight. The list of ingredients should not a mile long, and it would be especially helpful if I could purchase most of the ingredients for the cake at the local grocery store...on my way home from work. And finally I should be able to make it ahead ( at least a day or two ahead).
This chocolate Guinness cake fits the bill for me. The recipe is from Nigella Lawson's Feast cookbook. This dark and rich chocolate cake has one special ingredient - 1 cup of Guinness Stout. All you taste is just a hint of tang in the cake, so no worries - it would not have the aroma of a mug of just poured stout! This cake can be baked a day or two ahead as it allows the flavours to mellow and meld. I have already made this tight crumbed and moist cake on various occasions and it has not let me down....yet.
This cake comes together very quickly once you have all the ingredients measured and sifted. All you need is a large pot, melt sweet butter with a cup of stout on low heat, remove pot from stove and whisk in sour cream -egg mixture followed by dry ingredients, pour into a prepared cake pan and bake.
One down, two more to go! What is you favourite cake to bake?
Chocolate Guinness Cake - Nigella Lawson
The cake pan should be lined with buttered parchment paper ( I have used spring form pan here). The cake batter will be runny and once the cake is baked the middle of the cake will sink ever so slightly. Cut butter into small pieces if it is cold.
1 cup Guinness stout
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 Tb unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 Tb pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9 inch pan cake pan ( I used a spring form pan). Line pan should be buttered.
Whisk sour cream, eggs, salt and vanilla in a bowl and set aside.
Gently heat Guinness Stout and butter in a medium pan until butter is melted. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. Add the sour cream mixture into the Guinness mixture and mix until well combined.
Add in flour and baking soda to this mixture.
Pour batter into the lined cake pan and bake for 50 minutes for an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool cake on rack. Serve with cream cheese icing, whipped cream or just a light dusting of confectioners' sugar right before serving. This cake keeps well. If you are planning to refrigerate the cake, bring it cake to room temperature before serving.
Happy New Year everyone!!
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