Chocolate Stout Cake

My sister-in-law's bridal shower was over the weekend (congratulations, Jordan!), and I knew exactly what I needed to make - Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. This cake is our favorite chocolate cake, narrowly jumping ahead of my mother's famous Poor Man's Chocolate Cake and my grandmother's famous Mayonnaise Cake (it's delicious, I promise). I'll follow up with recipes for those, later. But Chocolate Stout Cake - moist, delicate, and overwhelming chocolate-y, as all cakes should be.

I follow Smitten Kitchen and have for many years. Seriously, I would love to be best buds with her. We have made so many of the recipes she's posted, and they have all been on target. We came across this recipe a few years back, and it is a rock star recipe every time. One problem, though - I hardly ever have buttermilk in our house. I guess I just don't make buttermilk pancakes enough, and we already know we make Cat Head Biscuits instead of buttermilk biscuits. So when I'm out of an ingredient I always refer to one of my favorite gifts I've ever gotten. It's a handy dandy substitution book that my grandmother got me a few years ago for Christmas - it's the 2010 release of this book, Substitution Ingredients: An A to Z Kitchen Reference by Becky Sue Epstein. I use this substitutions book for EVERYTHING. So what do you substitute when you don't have buttermilk? It's pretty easy - all you need is vinegar and milk.

Using the stout is just like using salt, chili pepper, or cinnamon with chocolate - it really brings out the chocolate flavor. We have always used regular ol' Guinness Stout for this recipe, but we found an organic chocolate stout by Samuel Smith that we wanted to try out. It was a great idea because the cupcakes turned out superb!

There's no special secrets about preparing this recipe. Sometimes I even get lazy and don't mix the dry and wet ingredients in two bowls - why make more dishes to wash? As with all of my baked goods, I take my time measuring and adding the ingredients to make sure they are correct and stirred in very well. You put love into baked goods, and they give you back lots of love when you eat them.

When I made this batch of cupcakes, I didn't have my buttercream icing made yet. Once they came out of the oven, I quickly put on some chocolate chips and a sprinkling of sea salt - perfect! Just make sure to have some milk on hand for the impending chocolate overload.

Time
Cake           40 minutes
Cupcakes     23 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon white vinegar + milk to fill up to one cup

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to a measuring cup. Fill up to 1 cup line with milk. Allow to sit while preparing the stout, cocoa, and butter.

Butter or spray a 9x13 pan well. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and ¾ teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and vinegar+milk combination in another large bowl. Add the stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, and beat just to combine. Add the flour mixture, and beat on a slow speed just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan (if making cupcakes, pour the batter into doubled-up liners, filling to about halfway or using about ¼ cup scoops). Bake about 40 minutes (23 minutes for cupcakes). Allow the cake to completely cool before icing.