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A chocolate layer cake sitting on a white scalloped edge cake plate with a big slice missing. The cake is decorated with chocolate rosettes and sprinkles

Decadant Chocolate Stout Cake

  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 90 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
  • Yield: 10-12 slices

Description

Decadent Chocolate Stout Cake is a dark chocolate cake spiked with chocolate stout beer. This homemade chocolate cake is rich, moist and easy to make!

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (285g)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (118 ml)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (15 ml)
  • 3/4 cup sour cream (177 ml)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (280g)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder (55 g)
  • 1 tablespoon espresso powder (5g) (optional)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (5 g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda (4 g)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (5 g)
  • 1 ¼ cup Chocolate Stout or Guinness (355 ml)

For the frosting

  • 2 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup Hershey’s Special dark chocolate cocoa powder, sifted
  • 78 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons chocolate stout
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the cake: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare 3 8-inch round baking pans, line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides. Prepare your bake even stripes if desired.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until the eggs and oil are well incorporated and the batter is lighter in color.
  3. Next mix in the sour cream and beat until well combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Then add half the dry ingredients followed by half of the Guinness and mix just until the flour starts to incorporate.
  5. Finally, add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing on low speed while pouring in the remaining Guinness and beating until all of the ingredients are well combined.
  6. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the batter from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.
  7. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans, about 1 2/3 cups of batter per pan. Bake at 350°F for 20-24 minutes. Rotate your pans in the oven halfway through baking.
  8. Test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

For the frosting: Please note this is a large batch and requires a large bowl. You might consider making this in two batches.

  1. Cut the butter into pieces, about 1 tablespoon in size. Using the paddle attachment, whip butter for 3-4 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Beat until butter looks light in color. Next, beat the cocoa powder into the butter until well mixed.
  2. Alternate adding 2-3 cups of powdered sugar at a time with the liquid ingredients: vanilla extract, heavy cream and stout. Add pinch of salt as needed. Ensure all the powdered sugar is well combined and beat for 2-3 minutes before adding additional powdered sugar.
  3. Once all ingredients have been added, whip for 3-4 minutes until the frosting is light and airy. If the frosting is too thick, add additional heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon at a time.

To assemble this cake:

  1. Level off your cakes by removing any domes. Place a dollop of frosting on your cake board and place the bottom layer of cake over that.
  2. Pipe the first layer of frosting, pipe in circles working outside edge to the middle. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add the second layer of cake and add the remaining frosting. Place the third layer of cake on top.
  3. Proceed to add your crumb coat by adding a cup of frosting to the top of the cake and gently spread out to the edges and down the sides. Using an offset spatula or icing smoother, the wipe away excess frosting, leaving you just enough to coat the outside of the cake. Do not mix your crumb coating frosting back into your icing if it has cake debris in it. Refrigerate the cake for 15-20 minutes to allow the crumb coat the harden.
  4. First, add about ½ cup of frosting to the top of the cake and create a nice, smooth top. Use your Viva paper towel and fondant smoother to create a flat even surface.
  5. Put remaining frosting in a 18-inch piping bag fitted with a Wilton #789 icing tip. Pipe the outside edge of the cake working from the bottom to the top. Use your icing smoother or large offset spatula to smooth edges and remove excess frosting.
  6. To pipe the rosettes on top, use a large piping bag fitted with a large open star tip, fill the piping bag with the remaining frosting and pipe the boarder of the cake. You can add a decorative boarder around the bottom edge. I used a tip #21 star tip.

Notes

Be sure to read through the tips and tricks in the blog post!

  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American