we love chocolate cake, naturally. so when thorn beer came out with their spicy maya dry irish stout, we felt inspired to create a decadent cake featuring both their beer and our spicy maya chocolate! we used irish cream in the frosting to really give this cake some extra sugar and spice.
Ingredients
For the Guinness Chocolate cake:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup thorn beer spicy maya dry irish stout (if you'd rather, a cup of hot coffee works in place of the beer)
For the Irish Buttercream:
- 4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Irish cream
For the chocolate drip:
- 1 spicy maya chocolate bar, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease two 8-inch wide and 3-inch deep cake pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and beer.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in their pans for 30 minutes before carefully turning them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the buttercream:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar then the Irish cream.
- Beat the mixture on high speed until very light, fluffy, and smooth, about 3 minutes. If the frosting is too thick, add a splash more Irish cream. If it’s too thin, add some more powdered sugar.
Assemble:
- Place one cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Frost the top of the cake generously, as this will become the filling.
- Top with the other cake layer, flat side up.
- With an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake.
- Refrigerate while you make the chocolate sauce.
For the chocolate sauce:
- Place the chopped spicy maya chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in the microwave or on the stove until steamy.
- Pour over the chopped chocolate and mix.
- Allow to cool until it has thickened but is still pourable, about 10 minutes. Don’t place ganache in the fridge to cool. Test the consistency of the drip by pouring down the side of a glass. If it’s too thick, microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. If it’s too thin, allow to continue to cool.
- Drizzle over the cake and allow to set.
- cut and enjoy!
