Chocolate Cake for Beginners

serves 12

• 1 cup of Guinness Extra Stout (as in 8 ounces)
• 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter - sliced
• 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (an additional teaspoon may be necessary for the icing - optional)
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 1 cup of confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cream (or milk)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter over medium heat and stir or whisk until melted.

3. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. Remove from heat.

4. In a small bowl, beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then add to chocolate mixture, whisking until well integrated.

5. Finally, add flour and baking soda, using either a whisk or rubber spatula to incorporate into batter until flour specks are no longer visible.

6. Pour cake batter into greased and lined pan and bake for 45-50 minutes (Check at 45 minutes for doneness, poking a skewer in center.).

7. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

8. When cake is cold, gently peel off parchment paper and transfer to a platter or cake stand.

Make icing:

9. Place cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a mixing bowl, and whip with an electric beater, until smooth. Whip in the vanilla extract.

10. Add cream and beat again until you have a spreadable consistency.

11. Ice top of cake, starting at middle and fanning out, so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Metric Measurements:

Cake:

• 250ml Guinness
• 250gr butter, unsalted and cut into slices
• 75gr cocoa powder
• 400gr caster sugar
• 1 x 142ml pot sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 15 ml vanilla essence
• 275gr plain flour
• 12.5 ml bicarbonate of soda

Frosting:

• 300gr cream cheese
• 150gr icing sugar
• 125ml double cream
• 5 ml vanilla essence (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4

23cm springform pan

Adapted From: "Feast" by Nigella Lawson