Black Forest Guinness Cake

Cake Ingredients

1¼ cup Guinness Stout

2¼ sticks (250g) unsalted butter

⅔ cup (75g) cocoa powder

2 cups (400g) granulated sugar

⅔ cup (150g) sour cream or plain greek yogurt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups (275g) all-purpose flour

2½ tablespoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Cherry Soak Ingredients

2 tablespoons Guinness Stout

4 tablespoons cherry juice (the liquid in the Maraschino cherry bottle works best)

Garnish Ingredients

1 cup (227g) heavy cream

2 tablespoon powdered sugar

Fresh cherries

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray, line with Kana Pre-Cut Parchment Paper Rounds, and spray again. Set aside.

Heat the beer and butter in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent any scorching. Once melted, remove from the heat.

Immediately add cocoa and sugar and whisk to combine. Be sure to sift your cocoa so you don’t have any lumps in your batter.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine and add to the chocolate mixture. Be sure to pour slowly while whisking constantly./p>

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to the chocolate and egg mixture. Mix thoroughly until fully combined.

Pour the cake batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or spoon.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

Combine Stout and cherry juice in a small bowl. Set aside.

After the cake has cooled for 10 minutes, remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.

Using a pastry brush, brush the slightly warm cake with the cherry soak. Allow the soak to fully penetrate into the cake before adding more. Continue adding soak until the cake no longer absorbs the juice (you should have about 2 teaspoons of the mixture left). Set the cake aside and cool completely.

Just before serving, whip heavy cream and powdered sugar to soft peaks. Add 1½ tsp of the cherry soak to the cream and whisk to combine.

Transfer the cooled cake to a cake stand or plate. Top with whipped cream, the rest of the cherry soak and fresh cherries to garnish.