Happy St. Patty’s Day! Whether you are Irish by birth or by spirit, this is the week that  everyone is a wee bit Irish. And what better way to celebrate than with a bit of Guinness Stout? Guinness is great on its own but when combined with chocolate it only gets better. The combination of the rich beer and chocolate produces a dense and complex cake that isn’t overly sweet. You could skip the coffee infused ganache if you wanted but I think it takes these cakes from very good to great. After all, you now have beer, chocolate and coffee!

Like so many recipes, this one is an adaptation of an adaptation which you guessed it, was adapted from the original. I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen but versions of this recipe are floating all over the web. Some recipes produce three layer cakes and others give you one large bundt shaped cake. I decided to make mini bundt cakes since I recently re-discovered my mini bundt cake pan while unpacking my moving boxes. And because I made this cake for a get together with Glenn’s co-workers, the mini cakes traveled better and were easier to serve a crowd. I had hoped to bring a leftover cake home with me but alas, they all disappeared. I guess the moral is that if I really want to eat the cake I need to leave one at home.

MINI CHOCOLATE STOUT CAKES

For the cake:

1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the ganache:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

To make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a six-cake mini bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray taking care to get in all of the nooks and crannies. If you don’t have two pans you will need to wash, dry, and re-grease the pan before baking the remaining cakes.
• In a large, heavy saucepan set over medium heat bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to a simmer.
• Add the cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
• Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.
• Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
• Add the stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just combined.
• Add the flour mixture and beat briefly on low speed until just combined.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.
• Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.

To make the ganache:

• For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.
• Drizzle over the top of cooled cakes.

Yields: 12 miniature bundt cakes

Tagged: baking, cakes, chocolate, Guinness Stout