GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

This may be the best chocolate cake/cream cheese frosting combo ever, to top off your St Patrick’s Day dinner.  The dense, dense chocolate taste, somehow made more glorious by a bottle of Guinness in the batter, combined with the feathery light frosting, even St Patrick himself would have stopped in for a slice–and stayed for a cup of tea.  Ah, but for all its glorious taste, you might need a bit of a word about the slicing—and the icing.  The cake is dense, sticky and delicious—the icing borders on ethereal.  But even with the sharpest knife, the most careful cleaning between each cut—it’s hard to avoid a bit of a mess cutting the frosted cake.  The solution—cut squares of cake and top each piece with a good size dollop of the icing!! 

Cake:

• 15 oz bottle of Guinness
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 2 tsps baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsps vinegar
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Pour half the Guinness into a small pot and bring to boil over high heat—remove from heat and set aside.  Butter a 9” X 11” baking sheet or dish, line it with parchment paper, then butter the paper (pan can vary by an inch or so).  Preheat oven to 350’.  Whisk the dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Add the oil, vinegar, and remaining Guinness to dry ingredients and stir well.  Carefully whisk in the hot Guinness and stir well to combine.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean from cake center.  Cool before cutting and frosting.

Icing:

Using electric mixer, mix ½ cup softened butter, 8 oz pkg of softened cream cheese, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Gradually add 4 cups sifted icing sugar (confectioners sugar), beating well after each addition.

The Kitchen Hive