Already think chocolate cake is amazing? Of course, you do. We are taking it to a whole new level by adding some stout beer to it. This chocolate stout cake reaches a whole new level of decadence that you’re sure to love. Plus, we make it extra cute by adding some old school conversations hearts. Because, hey it’s Valentine’s Day season.
Also, this cocoa powder is amazing. We found it at our local HomeGoods. Do you guys shop there? I always thought their food/cooking section was just a random pile of leftover stuff. It’s not! I read this article last year and it opened my eyes to the wonderful (and limited edition) items you can find there. The only downfall is I’ll never find this cocoa powder again.
I might have said that the stout beer is what makes this chocolate cake amazing. But, these FOUR sticks of butter might actually help out too. You’re going to melt the beer and the butter together to make a yummy little mixture that smells delicious. Feeling like Paula Deen over here right now.
Oh, hello it’s my beautiful cocoa powder again. You’re going to add it to the beer-butter mixture and it makes a beautiful chocolately syrup. Be sure to whisk it until it’s completely combined. No one wants random clumps of cocoa powder in their cake. Also, you’ll want this to be room temperature so I would suggest putting the pot in an ice bath or transferring to a different bowl to let cool.
While your chocolate is cooling, you’re going to make your dry mixture too. There is something about the measurements of this cake that I really enjoy. In addition to the four sticks of butter, you’ll add four cups of flour and four cups of sugar. that’s just so uniform and I like the structure.
Oh, another measurement of four! Add four eggs to your stand mixer and some sour cream then blend for a few minutes until it’s creamy and pale yellow. Scrape the sides a few times to make sure you don’t have any random not mixed pieces of egg or sour cream.
I’m obsessed with this picture. This blend looks like a zebra cake and I’m pretty into it. It reminds me of Sally’s Baking Addiction zebra cake! She’s one of my absolute favorite food bloggers and I use a ton of her ideas for inspiration. Give her a follow and you might see some pictures of her adorable dogs and sweet baby too.
After you mix up your zebra looking mixture, you are going to add the dry ingredients. Add them slowly with your stand mixer on level 1 or 2, until fully combined. Not going to lie, I totally lick the bowl when it’s fudgy and delicious like this. The Beard doesn’t ever lick the bowl, it’s like he’s afraid of salmonella or something.
Another pro tip for you, use a kitchen scale when making a tiered cake. We use the Esacli food scale because Alton Brown said he uses it and that’s good enough for me. It’s pretty helpful for a multitude of reasons but today, we’re using it for a yummy chocolate cake.
Look at that delicious chocolatey goodness! You know a cake is going to be good when the batter tastes amazing. Also, make sure you grease your pans and/or use parchment paper on the bottom so your cake comes out nice and clean. There is nothing worse than making a cake and then ruining it because you forgot to grease your pan. Speaking from experience, guys.
Okay, so you can make your frosting while your cake cooks or you can make it before you even cook your cake. It takes about 2 hours to chill in the fridge so just make sure you think of that when you’re making your dessert. This is an awesome frosting recipe and I’ll definitely be using it moving forward. Make sure when you heat your heavy whipping cream, let it get up to mayb 110 degrees or so and don’t let it boil.
Then, you pour it over your chocolate chips and mix it until fully blended. It might take a minute or two so don’t be worried if it looks like it isn’t coming together. It will all come together and then you’ll toss in the fridge, uncovered for at least two hours.
When you take it out of the fridge, don’t be discouraged if it looks thick. It’s a little deceiving but is totally spreadable. Make sure you cut the dome off of one of your cake levels so you have a flat surface on the bottom one. Then, use an offset spatula to ice your beautiful chocolate cake. Don’t go too crazy with the first layer because you will have to layer the entire cake.
Yum, yum, yum. This cake is just seriously so good. When you are icing your cake, my suggestion is to put it on a cake stand or on a plate that rotates easily. This large glass platter spins easily and is easy to clean if you get extra icing or cake on it.
Since it’s Valentine’s Day, we had to get a little festive with some cute decorations. We threw candy hearts on there to be festive with Valentine’s Day. But, you could put sprinkles, shamrock candies, snowflakes, or even just some happy birthday candles! Let us know how you are going to decorate your chocolate stout cake in the comments below!
- 2 cups stout beer
- 4 sticks butter
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
- 4 cups flour
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 16 oz chocolate chips
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans and then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
- Pour stout and butter in a pot and heat until better melts, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and gently whisk in cocoa powder until fully combined and smooth.
- Set aside and let cool to room temperature or place pot in ice bath for a few minutes.
- Whisk dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a large bowl and set aside.
- In stand mixer, beat eggs and sour cream until combined and pale yellow.
- Add the chocolate mixture to stand mixer until fully combined.
- Then, slowly add the flour mixture and scrape the sides and bottoms until fully combined with no clumps.
- Using a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the batter into two cake pans. Each cake pan should have about 47-48 ounces of batter plus the weight of the cake pan.
- Bake the cake layers for 45-50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
- Then, turn out onto a cooling rack and let completely cool, at least one hour.
- Once icing and cakes are cool, prepare to decorate.
- Trim one cake layer to have a flat top.
- Place flat top layer upside down on serving platter. Then, ice the top of the cake layer.
- Top with second cake layer and fully ice the rest of the cake.
- Decorate with candy hearts or other seasonal decorations. Slice and enjoy!
- Put chocolate in a large bowl and set aside.
- Heat heavy cream in a pot until about 110 degrees, careful not to let it boil.
- Add warm cream to chocolate and whisk until completely combined smooth. Add vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Place in fridge for at least two hours, until spreadable.
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