For the love of cake.

Last week marked yet another wonderful Wednesday at Blackwater North State School.  Apparently the intrigue began as early as 8am as to what was 'inside' the cake that lay on the table. 

Mud cake?
No.
Carrot cake?
No.
White chocolate cake?
No.

It was Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake: the smooth, moist centre in stunning contrast to the sweet cream cheese outer.  As soon as this beautiful cake was cut, it was a fight as to who could get a piece before it ran out and it was completely and utterly worth the fight.  This cake is impressive to say the least, and yet a one pot wonder (yes, I did say pot).  All of the ingredients are combined and whipped up in a large saucepan before entering the oven.  It's certainly minimum effort for maximum effect.  I recommend that this be the next wonder to come out of your oven.

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake

250ml Guinness

250g unsalted butter

75g cocoa

400g caster sugar

1 x 142ml pot sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract

275g plain flour

2 1/2teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line the bottom of a 23cm springform tin with baking paper.

In a large saucepan, place your guinness and butter and stir over a low heat.  When the butter has melted into the guinness, add the sugar and cocoa.  Separately beat the eggs, sour cream and vanilla together before whisking into the dark guinness liquid.  Finally you can stir in the plain flour and bicarb until combined.  Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake for an hour. 

I literally baked this cake twice within a week.  It freezes beautifully if you want to slice it up, as I have, for my lovely husband to take in his lunch; it is simply sublime with custard or icecream as a dessert; or you can frost it, as I have here, with my divine Cream Cheese Frosting and adding some chocolate coated strawberries.

F. x