My birthday cake: Chocolate Stout Cake
February is a special month for me, not because of Valentine's Day or school holidays, but because my birthday is this month, tomorrow to be exact. And what birthday is complete with a cake? I love chocolate cake and since I am often the person baking the cakes in our house I began a quest for the best chocolate cake and it didn't take long before I found it - Chocolate Stout Cake, also known as, my birthday cake!
As a child, birthdays were always special at my house. My sisters and I usually had a home party, were able to pick what we wanted for dinner, and always had a homemade cake.
My mom excelled at baking and I will never forget the Enchanted Castle Cake she made me from a recipe in a circa 1965 Betty Crocker cookbook that looked as if a professional had made it, complete with a chocolate bar draw bridge and sugar cone towers covered in pink sparkly sugar.
As an adult, while I still appreciate a good looking cake, I now focus on flavor and my favorite is chocolate. I've made many chocolate cake recipes, each with their own twist. Whether its milk or dark chocolate, a shot or two of coffee or espresso, cinnamon or cayenne pepper, every recipe seems to have it's own special ingredient and my favorite is no exception. The secret ingredient in my cake is beer, and not just any beer; we are talking the dark stuff, stout.
I found this recipe in the RSVP section of Bon Appetite magazine and was intrigued by the word "Stout" in the recipe name, but what really caught my eye was the comment by the person requesting the recipe who noted she was a lifelong chocoholic and had eaten many pieces of chocolate cake, but had never enjoyed anything as much as this chocolate stout cake. (For a moment I wondered if we might be related.) Thank goodness the Barrington Brewery in Greater Barrington Rhode Island agreed to share their recipe, because I knew immediately I had to try this cake.
Bon Appetite mentions "The dark beer known as stout gives this cake an intense, not-too-sweet flavor", but don't worry if you're not a beer fan, you won't even know it is in this moist chocolaty extravaganza. Stout, similar to brewed coffee or espresso powder, enhances the chocolate flavor and adds intensity to chocolate cakes.
Why stout and how is it different from other beer? What really differentiates a stout from other beers styles is its standout, roasted flavor, often compared to chocolate. This flavor comes from roasted barley, which is made by highly kilning barley grain that has not been malted. When most people think of stouts, they think of creamy, strong and dark beers, perfect for pairing with rich chocolate.
In addition to being super chocolaty, the cake is also very moist. This is in part to the technique in which the batter is made. Instead of creaming the butter and sugar together, the butter is melted with the stout and cocoa powder.
By melting the butter, it now acts like oil in the cake and produces a soft moist crumb.
In between the layers of delicious cake, and enrobing it like a fine chocolate, is an intense chocolate frosting, or ganache, made by pouring hot cream over semisweet chocolate.
I have seen other recipes that suggest using buttercream made with Bailey's Irish Cream, a traditional cream cheese frosting, or even a bourbon sour cream blend to mimic the foam on top of a frosty mug of stout, but I am a purist and prefer the ganache. Yes, it is very rich and chocolaty, but pair a slice with a hot cup of coffee or a tall glass of cold milk and you have achieved dessert perfection.
Even though we won't be together on my birthday, I invite you to join me in baking and enjoying my birthday cake. The Barrington Brewery charges $6.50 a slice, but you can make it for much less and if you're a chocoholic like me it will be worth every penny.
• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge.