Guinness Chocolate Cake. Amazing.

I'd been wanting to make this cake for awhile. My mother in law mentioned something about one she'd tried when she was here and it reminded me about it. David didn't let me forget when we were at the store and he was craving a Guinness. It worked out well. The cake came out FABULOUS and would you believe my husband made the whole thing? Yep. Pretty much he rocks. It tasted FAB and was a total hit at our Thanksgiving celebration! (yes it was a bit lop sided but that did NOT affect the taste!)

You should try it. I will say the fat and caloric content on this cake is pretty much not even worth looking into. I'm sure its high and we'll leave it at that.

Ingredients

Cake
2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream (we used light, I'm sure that helped some on the calories) ;)

Icing
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper. Butter paper. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.

Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing over. Top with second cake layer. Spread 2/3 cup icing over. Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake.

Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Amazing. Decadent. Unforgettable.