Today, I’m thrilled to share with you this recipe for moist and delectable chocolate stout cake, which is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes.

I got to create and serve this delectable chocolate Guinness cake to Anthony Bourdain, and it is the zenith of my professional culinary career.

Moist rich chocolate cake topped with scarcely sweet burnt caramel buttercream is a match made in paradise, and even though he was not a dessert aficionado, Anthony Bourdain said he relished the cake.

The Ingredients

The ingredients are fairly straightforward. Aside from the stout, you may already have everything you need:

• All-purpose flour: supplies the structure for the cake. I wouldn’t use cake flour here, as the cake is already really moist. If you use cake flour, I believe the cake would split apart white sugar: for richness and moisture

• Brown sugar: for flavor, depth, and moisture

• Cocoa powder: provides the chocolate flavor. Cocoa powder is, ounce per ounce, more chocolatey than chocolate since it is made up almost exclusively of cacao and has relatively little fat, no sugar, and no dairy in it

• Espresso powder or instant coffee: underscores the chocolate flavor

• Baking powder: for development

• Baking soda: to balance the acid in the brown sugar (molasses) and the beer salt: counteracts any bitterness from the stout and cocoa and brings all the flavors into focus butter: (not depicted) provides oil to transport flavor and tenderize the crumb eggs: contributes structure, hydration, richness, and emulsifiers stout: the liquid in the cake. Adds depth of flavor and subtle maltiness

• Vanilla: balances out the chocolate and lager flavors

• Sour cream: adds a hint of mellowness, a bit of additional fat, and milk particulates to up the protein a bit. You can also use creme fraiche or Greek yogurt.

Making Chocolate Stout Cake, Step By Step

Note, this cake is prepared using the dissolved sugar procedure. It’s a safe guess that any confection that relies on boiling liquid as part of the ingredients is prepared by the same method.

Directions

• Make frosting: Place dark chocolate chunks in a large basin; set aside.

• Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, water, and corn syrup in a light colored, tall-sided saucepan. Place pan over medium heat and cook until mixture begins to turn a deep amber color, rotating pan often to combine ingredients; about 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and gingerly pour in heavy cream (mixture will froth up swiftly and then halt, this is ok). Place pan back over low heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Allow mixture to boil for 5 minutes, agitating constantly, then promptly pour caramel over the chocolate morsels. Allow mixture to stand for 1 minute.

• Gently stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add in 2 teaspoons vanilla and Irish Cream and mix until combined. Add in butter 1 tablespoon at a time, making sure each addition is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next, until all 3 tablespoons of butter are incorporated. Loosely cover receptacle with a kitchen towel and set aside to chill to room temperature, agitating intermittently (this will take 4 to 6 hours).

• Combine stout beer and 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar in a saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has reduced to 1 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

• Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt; set dry ingredients aside.

• Beat 1/2 cup unsalted butter, vegetable oil, 1 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar together in a large basin or the bowl of a stand mixer until light and frothy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and wiping down the sides of the basin as required. Beat mixture on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 additional minutes after adding in the last egg. Mix in sour cream and 2 tablespoons vanilla extract.

• Pour in half of dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Pour in cooled stout mixture and blend until just combined. Add in remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

• Divide batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake tins. Tap cookware on the counter several times to dislodge any larger air pockets.

• Bake in the preheated oven and until the tops of the cakes spring back lightly when touched, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 20 to 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to chill completely, about 1 hour.

• Once cakes and frosting are both chilled, place one cake layer on a serving platter. Top with about 1 cup frosting; distribute it into an even layer. Top with remaining cake. Pour remaining frosting over the top of the cake and spread over top and sides of cake until entirely frosted on all sides.

Why Refrigerate A Hot Cake?

The combination of enveloping the dense cake for chilling and allowing it to come to room temperature before delving in yields a delicate, succulent cake with extraordinarily silky icing. The finest.

As a cake cools, some of the liquid evaporates. And that can lead to a desiccated confection.

Wrapping a steaming cake securely in plastic wrap retains all the moisture in the cake where it belongs. Tada!