Thursday, January 16, 2014

Chocolate Guiness Cake with Bailey's Frosting


This is hands down one of my favorite cakes I've ever made. I needed a cake to celebrate big birthdays for my husband and one of his friends and wanted something fun and different. What makes a perfect, fun cake for a guy? Beer, of course! I found a recipe for a chocolate Guiness cake from a blog crediting . It was dense, rich and had a little spice to it. The flavor was perfect. I could've eaten it plain without frosting.

But, of course, it needed frosting. The recipe recommended a cream cheese frosting. In searching I found a Bailey's Cream Cheese frosting and thought it would be perfect. It really may be my favorite frosting I've ever made. Delicious. But really, how can you go wrong with Bailey's? This recipe came from a blog called Pages, Pucks and Pantry.



Chocoalte Guiness Cake:

2 cups Guiness Extra Stout
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 cake pans and line with parchment paper.
2. In a large sauce pan, combine the Guiness and butter and place over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat.

3. Add cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, and molasses. Whisk to blend.
4. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Mix well, then add to the Guiness mixture.
5. In a very large bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Gently whisk to mix.

6. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture in increments, mixing well each time. This is important to reduce the chance of a lumpy batter.
7. Pour the batter evenly into the 3 prepared cake pans, filling each about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes until risen and firm, rotating pans  halfway through.
9. Leave the cakes in the pans while the cool completely on wire racks.


Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 - 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
8oz unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
8-12 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream (I used 10)

1. Add cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, at least 2-3 minutes.
2. Slowly drizzle in the Bailey's. Beat until fully incorporated.

Once the cake is cool, level off the three layers with a knife. Stack spreading the frosting in between the layers and on top. This ends up being a very tall cake!
 

 

 
 Frost the sides.

 
 I added chocolate genache drizzle on top. Place 6 oz of chopped dark baking chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat 2/3 cup whipping cream to just boiling and pour over chocolate. Let sit 3-5 minutes or until chocolate is melted and stir. Let stand about 15 minutes stirring occasionally until it coats a metal spoon. Then drizzle over cake.