My Goodness - it's Guinness! (Cakes)

Member Name: Teteenlair

Product:	Cakes
Date:	06/11/09 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Impress your friends with a chocolate cake with a twist

Disadvantages: Quite time-consuming to make

***I'm a bit unclear on whether recipes posted here should be your own home-made recipes or not, so I'd like to make it clear that this is a NIGELLA LAWSON recipe which I have commented and advised on - it is not my own recipe. For clarity, I've copied her recipe in CAPITALS and added my own thoughts in lower-case text.***

I have to admit I waste a fair bit of time on the internet, and when I'm not on Facebook, MSE or DooYoo, I sometimes browse cookery sites and baking blogs. I'm a bit of a novice baker, slowly getting to grips with how to avoid ending up with one enromous fairy cake that looks like something out of a 50s B-movie, but when I came across a recipe online for Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake I had to give it a go. It was the run up to my Grandma's 75th birthday and she loves a bit of the black stuff so I thought it would make an ideal birthday cake.

~NIGELLA LAWSON'S CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE~

BEER AND CHOCOLATE SHOULD BE ALL WRONG TOGETHER, BUT IN THIS RECIPE THEY SOMEHOW WORK. AS NIGELLA SAYS, THIS CAKE HAS A "RESONANT, FERROUS TANG" AND IS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS WITH GINGER ICE CREAM... OR IF YOU'RE FEELING ESPECIALLY BEER-ORIENTED, WITH GUINNESS STOUT ICE CREAM.

~INGREDIENTS~

FOR THE CAKE:

- 250ml GUINNESS
- 1 CUP BUTTER (about 175g)
- 75g COCOA
- 400g CASTER SUGAR
- 140ml SOUR CREAM
- 2 EGGS
- 1 TABLESPOON VANILLA EXTRACT
- 275g PLAIN FLOUR
- 2 ½ TEASPOONS BAKING SODA

FOR THE ICING:

- 300g CREAM CHEESE
- 150g ICING SUGAR (I normally use about 200g to make it a bit thicker)
- 125ml HEAVY CREAM
- CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES

~DIRECTIONS~

1- PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 180C/355F (Gas Mark 4), AND GREASE AND LINE A 9" SPRINGFORM TIN.

2- POUR THE GUINNESS INTO A LARGE SAUCEPAN AND ADD THE SLICED BUTTER. HEAT UNTIL BUTTER IS MELTED AND REMOVE THE SAUCEPAN FROM THE HEAT. WHISK IN THE COCOA AND SUGAR. BEAT THE SOUR CREAM WITH THE EGGS AND VANILLA, THEN POUR INTO THE SAUCEPAN. FINALLY, BEAT IN THE FLOUR AND BAKING SODA.

3- POUR THE BATTER INTO THE GREASED AND LINED TIN AND BAKE FOR 45 MINUTES TO AN HOUR. LEAVE TO COMPLETELY COOL IN THE TIN - IT IS QUITE A DAMP CAKE.

4- FOR THE ICING, BEAT THE ICING SUGAR AND CREAM CHEESE TOGETHER.ADD THE CREAM AND BEAT AGAIN UNTIL IT'S A SPREADABLE CONSISTENCY. ICE THE TOP OF THE BLACK CAKE UNTIL IT RESEMBLES THE FROTHY TOP OF A PINT OF GUINNESS , TOPPING WITH CHOCOLATE DROPS TO RESEMBLE BUBBLES.

~AFTER-THOUGHTS~

I WOULD IMAGINE THAT IF YOU WERE SO INCLINED, YOU COULD MAKE THIS CAKE FROM ROOT BEER OR GINGER ALE... BUT WHY MESS WITH PERFECTION?

*This recipe was found here: http://www.domesticgoddess.ca/recipes.php?recipe=1 0193 and can also be found in Nigella Lawson's Feast.*


*Taste*

Chocolate cake with Guinness and sour cream in, and icing made from Philadelphia? Sounds awful, but do give it a chance - it's a really really tasty cake and an interesting one too. It's a delicious chocolate cake that tastes just odd enough for you to notice it, and you can probably only place the beer taste once you know what's in it. The best thing about this cake is it's moistness I think - I'm not amazing at making lovely moist cake but I don't think you can go wrong with this recipe. I have given pieces of this cake to family members, friends and work colleagues and not one person hasn't been impressed. I'd advise eating with a fork as it's very sticky, and check your smile afterwards because it'll probably be full of chocolate sponge!

*My Thoughts*

I have made this cake twice now - once as a practice run and once for the real birthday cake. Both times it has turned out perfect (and I'm the sort of baker who needs to do a practice run!) and had so many compliments and recipe requests.

Although the recipe isn't a long and convoluted one, it is quite a time consuming cake to make - because it needs up to an hour in the oven, then at least another hour to cool before it can be iced. It is also quite a messy one! I find that cocoa clumps quite a lot and so does the flour in this recipe, so I use an electric hand whisk to get rid of any lumps ... and because it is quite a 'liquid' mix, it does tend to fly about the kitchen a bit!

You will end up with a LOT of cake mixture and it may seem quite watery compared to some, but don't worry it will set, and it makes a very deep cake. It will probably crack on top when it's done - but don't worry, you'll be putting that much icing on that this won't be visible at all. The old 'put the knife in and does it come out clean?' test is a good one.

The icing does seem a bit runny if you make it how Nigella advises, so I always add a little bit extra icing sugar to thicken it up a bit. These quantities will make more than enough icing for a cake of this size, so be careful you don't make yourself sick licking the bowl out afterwards (like I do)!

I'd advise keeping this cake in the fridge both before serving and if there's any left over, because it will keep the icing a bit firmer, and as it's such a 'damp' cake, will not dry it out in any way. I've found that this cake is still delicious to eat a good week after baking when kept in the fridge, so even though it's a large cake you shouldn't get much waste.

*Variation*

Yesterday I decided to try and make Chocolate Guinness cupcakes, as an easy and more presentable way of giving some to friends, rather than taking half a cake round. I made the recipe in exactly the same way but poured it into large bun cases rather than a cake tin. I filled the cases to 2/3 full, and I was a bit apprehensive as to what would happen, but in the end they rose mainly in the middle and not too much so the cases could be filled more without overflowing. This recipe makes about 24 large cupcakes. They bake at the same temperature, but for significantly less time - they'll take 25-30 mintes, but keep an eye on them from 20 minutes onwards.

I don't think this recipe lends itself very well to cupcakes though. Although they were still moist and the taste was not affected, I did find that the increased ratio of icing to cake made the icing a bit overpowering and you don't 'get' the Guinness taste as much, they're just like a normal chocolate cake.

Summary: Sounds so wrong, tastes so right!