How amazing that this month, my Secret Recipe Club assignment was the same blog that had me last month. I am very familiar with Cairns Manor and I was so excited to look around the blog for something to make. Jo is a domestic goddess and has some very delectable recipes on her site. As an animal lover Jo and I are on the same wavelength and I had a great time browsing her blog. It did not take me long to settle on my choice! I am so intrigued by using beer in baking and as this recipe has chocolate in it (my second love) I could not resist.
We are very fortunate to have some great local breweries near to us, and my favourite is Triggerfish. They are situated in Paardevlei, and the Friday before I decided to bake this cake, I drove into the complex to purchase one bottle of stout. I got a bottle of Empowered Stout which has an aroma of coffee, dark chocolate, dried fruit, raisins and licorice and pairs well with meat dishes or dark chocolate. Not wanting to let a good opportunity go to waste, I bought a selection of their beers so that Dave and Alex could enjoy them over the weekend. I baked the cake exactly as per the recipe, but after an hour it had not cooked through. The top was burnt and I sliced that off and left it in the oven for longer, but eventually decided to just leave it as is. There was nothing wrong with the cake per se (we ate every last slice) but I could not blog a recipe that was not right, and I could not take a photograph of the cake.
On the Monday I went back to Triggerfish and when I told Eric (the owner) what I was baking, he gave me the stout I needed to bake the cake. I am so glad I keep a water bottle in my car, as this was used for some black marlin which is only available on tap. This Russian Imperial variety has a lovely coffee, dark chocolate, aniseed, dark fruit and caramel aroma and pairs well with rich warm deserts and dark chocolate. Needless to say, I left with a few more bottles again to ensure the boys would not go thirsty during the week.
I baked the cake again, but halved the batter into smaller tins, and it worked a treat. I would definitely bake this again as you get a really malty, chocolate flavour in this delicious cake.
have you used stout in baking?
- 100g butter
- 80g cocoa powder
- 255g flour
- 7.5mls bicarbonate of soda
- 2.5mls salt
- 385g sugar - I used fructose
- 60mls canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 180g plain yoghurt
- 250mls stout
- Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- Prepare 2 17.5cm baking tins
- Over a bain-marie, melt the butter
- Once melted add the cocoa and mix in well
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar, oil and eggs until pale in colour
- Add the cocoa-butter mixture and mix until blended together
- Mix in half of the flour mixture, until the flour is just mixed in
- Add the yoghurt and stout and mix again until incorporated
- Add the rest of the flour and mix in
- Divide the batter between the tins and smooth out on top
- Bake for 30 minutes and test to make sure they have cooked through
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out
- Leave to cool completely before icing with a chocolate ganache
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
What I blogged:
- one year ago – ingredient challenge
- two years ago – Friday’s food quiz number 38
You keep luring me into wanting to try stuff, but I just don’t have the eating audience to do them.
you could be like me and have a fridge full of goodies!
I never used stout in my baking before because you rarely can find it here. Your chocolate stout cake looks very mouthwatering, Tandy 🙂 MMMMMM! A lovely presentation too!
Thank you Sophie! I wonder if any other unusual beer would work?
I think Guiness would work too! Or a dark Brown leffe or a trappist?
do give it a try and let me know!
Looks delicious, I love chocolate and Stout 😉
Great photo!
Love the Pinit button on the photo.
You will love the cake then, and thanks for the compliment about my photo. The pin button is a great plugin 🙂
This does sound like a great recipe…add it to the blogland recipe book!!! Thanks…
my pleasure Lisa 🙂
I’ve heard of this stout cake but never actually tried it. Looks delicious!
Thank you, it was quite delicious 🙂
I don´t enjoy dakr beers to drink and have only ever used them in casseroles, but am sure this must have been so moist and tasty – it looks great!
I am not a fan of drinking them either, but for cooking they are great 🙂
Hi Tandy, now this recie sounds right up my street! I’m not a greta fan of the heavy stouts to drink, occiasionally they are perfect bu I love to cook with them !
They are wonderful cooking beers 🙂
The combination of chocolate and stout just can’t be beat! Great cake!
thank you Joanne 🙂
Oh Wow Tandy, this looks amazing
thank you Usha 🙂
This cake looks and sound amazing! Great SRC pick!
thanks Lisa 🙂
Looks like second time was the charm with this recipe. I’ve been wanting to try a chocolate/guinness or stout recipe for a while now and this looks like a good recipe to try!
if you do give it a go, please let me know what you think!
Interesting. I have made some Guinness gingerbread that I love!
Oh wow, I have to try that!
I have never used stout in cooking, but you are certainly tempting me! This looks fantastic!
Thanks Teri, hope you give it a try 🙂
I’ve never tried this, Tandy, but I will now! It looks delicious!
I am sure it will go down a treat 🙂
Oh yes, one of my favourite cakes uses Guinness and dark chocolate! Yours sounds delicious, Tandy!
Glad this is a favourite for you Celia 🙂
My birthday is in a couple of months…I expect one of these on my doorstep 🙂
I shall wish one your way!
I’ve always wanted to bake with stout given the tons of recipes including it. But it’s difficult to find here in India. The cake looks delicious though, I’m sure I’ll be able to find it soon enough, bookmarked for that time!
What type of beers can you find there?
What a great recipe. Once I used guiness and made brownies. Your cake looks much better.
Now that has given me a great idea for the leftovers 🙂
This looks delicious! Great dessert!
Thanks Debbi 🙂
I am so tempted to go and make this delicious cake ASAP 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I knew it would appeal to you! You will have to get your mum to do the shopping for the ingredients 😉
I’ve never used stout in cakes…but now I’m tempted. This cake looks soft and delicious. We are chocolate lovers in my family!!
I am sure you can find a really good chocolate stout in the UK Rita 🙂
I’ve heard of these cakes made with stout, but I’ve never tried one myself. It looks so incredibly tempting! I am impressed with your diligence in getting the recipe correctly made!
Thanks Linda, I try and not blog my failures which sometimes means making things over and over again 🙂
What a fantastic looking cake! I’ve never used stout before, but you certainly have me intrigued 🙂
Do give it a try Melissa 🙂
I love the sound of that cake, especially with the addition of stout. Delicious
Thank you Roger 🙂
I certainly looks delicious, Tandy. No, I’ve never used stout in baking, but it sounds like a tasty idea. 🙂
I just loved using the stout this way 🙂
Looks Delish!!
Thank you Jamie 🙂
We have a Guinness in our pantry that is waiting to be baked into a chocolate cake. Possibly for an upcoming birthday. I can’t wait to try it!
Please let me know how it works out for you 🙂