This is how chocolate cake should be. With stout in it. Don’t be surprised if I sneak a spoonful of stout into future chocolate cakes and brownies. After attempting this recipe twice, I think stout is going to be my favorite alcohol to bake with. It complements chocolate extremely well, and the half cup that goes into a batch of a dozen cupcakes leaves you with more than enough beer in the bottle to sip as you work along. Baking whilst tipsy is quite enjoyable.
This recipe yields an incredibly moist cake that is also very straightforward to put together. I used a cream cheese frosting for this batch, but I think adding a tablespoonful of Bailey’s to the frosting would go wonderful with the cake. As a testament to how truly awesome this recipe is, I made it twice. In a row. The first time, I used Brooklyn Brewery’s limited edition Dark Chocolate Stout, and it was quite fabulous. Guinness is delicious too, but I would recommend using chocolate stout if you can find some. I also halved the original recipe, so click through if you want to scale up.
Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
Adapted from Cookie Madness
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes
1/2 cup Guinness Stout (or dark chocolate stout)
1 sticks butter (4 oz)
3/8 cup Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder or Hershey’s Dark
1 cups all purpose flour
1 cups granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/8 teaspoons salt
1 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Place butter in a saucepan and turn heat to medium. When butter is almost completely melted, add stout and cook over medium until mixture starts to simmer. Reduce heat slightly, add cocoa powder and stir or whisk until smooth. Remove from heat.
In a mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a second bowl, using an electric mixer, beat eggs until thick and lemon colored – beat for a full five minutes. Add the sour cream and beat until combined. Add the stout mixture to the egg mixture and stir just until mixed. Add the flour mixture and stir until well mixed.
Divide the batter equally among the muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes minutes or until cakes test done (toothpick inserted comes out clean). Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then let cool on a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Allrecipes
Makes 1 1/2 cups
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
Cream cream cheese and butter together till light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar. Refrigerate after use.
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