I seemed to have forgotten a promised cake review. Shame on me. I have plans tomorrow to make a batch of homemade oreo cookies yoinked from another food blog- which will also necessitate a review-and that reminded me of this. The link to the recipe will be provided at the bottom of the post, as always. Anyways, I happened upon this recipe at the perfect time. Earlier that day, I had opened one of my “special” bottles of beer. It was Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. It was dark and strong, but not overpowering. It was reminiscent of Guinness in that it had a bitter bite to it that almost completely dissipated once you swallowed. Not as clean as Guinness, but very good. The label informs you that it’s chocolate malt combined with real dark chocolate. Well, my palate isn’t really up to snuff on that front, so I couldn’t say one way or the other. If you like ‘em dark, pick this one up next time you see it.
Another thing to note about this is that it comes in pints. Now, I love my liquor, but unless I’m really trying, I don’t like to drink more than about a cup a day. So this left me with an abundance of beer that I couldn’t in good conscience just toss out. Enter beer cake. The picture on the website makes it look infinitely more appetizing than mine came out. I stumbled upon a million hurdles with this damn cake, and despite some unfortunate texture issues, it turned out delicious. I skipped the nuts because, well, why bother? More chocolate to fill in the space, I say.
I only made a half-recipe. When will I learn that this is bad when it comes to cakes and the like. Also, I resorted, again, to baking it in a bundt pan. I don’t have round cake pans and the other pans were occupied. I had issues with the frosting as well. Normally, I don’t make the “recommended” frosting with cakes because the cake itself is already sweet enough and a bunch of gooey frosting on top sort of makes my stomach flip. My tip: you must make this frosting. The cake is a lot like the beer it’s made with. It’s not sweet- it’s rich and flavorful and deeply nuanced, but it is not sweet enough when you expect cake. Yet, my frosting came out liquid and didn’t set right. Until of course, I put it in the fridge where it promptly solidified into a hard shell.
Nevermind all that. If you want something completely unlike the toothache cakes you’ve always had, try this. You get the sweet, chocolaty goodness that all cakes must have with something much more complex than an old slap of cover-up frosting can give you.
Another thing to note about this is that it comes in pints. Now, I love my liquor, but unless I’m really trying, I don’t like to drink more than about a cup a day. So this left me with an abundance of beer that I couldn’t in good conscience just toss out. Enter beer cake. The picture on the website makes it look infinitely more appetizing than mine came out. I stumbled upon a million hurdles with this damn cake, and despite some unfortunate texture issues, it turned out delicious. I skipped the nuts because, well, why bother? More chocolate to fill in the space, I say.
I only made a half-recipe. When will I learn that this is bad when it comes to cakes and the like. Also, I resorted, again, to baking it in a bundt pan. I don’t have round cake pans and the other pans were occupied. I had issues with the frosting as well. Normally, I don’t make the “recommended” frosting with cakes because the cake itself is already sweet enough and a bunch of gooey frosting on top sort of makes my stomach flip. My tip: you must make this frosting. The cake is a lot like the beer it’s made with. It’s not sweet- it’s rich and flavorful and deeply nuanced, but it is not sweet enough when you expect cake. Yet, my frosting came out liquid and didn’t set right. Until of course, I put it in the fridge where it promptly solidified into a hard shell.
Nevermind all that. If you want something completely unlike the toothache cakes you’ve always had, try this. You get the sweet, chocolaty goodness that all cakes must have with something much more complex than an old slap of cover-up frosting can give you.
Now you can see how unfortunate mine was. But it tasted good! That's all that counts right?
To whip up your own cake, go here: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/chocolate-beer-cake,1858,RC.html
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