Triple Layer Guiness Cake (Chocolate Stout Cake) with Bailey's Frosting and Whiskey Ganache

Every St. Patrick's Day, I break out a Guinness recipe. Mostly this is because I'm a dark chocolate person, and Guinness, much like coffee, makes good chocolate take on a darker, slightly more bitter and complex taste. Add to that a sense of satisfaction at boozy cakes, and car bomb cake is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. In the past I've made Car Bomb Cupcakes, but this year I went for the full-on cake, decorated to look like the top of an iconic pint glass. I also did not use Guinness this year, but opted instead for Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. The world of fantastic stouts is too great too always use Guinness, especially with the crazy St. Patrick's day mark up.

I have to admit that I had grand plans to take detailed photos of the stacking and icing of the cake, which I immediately forgot in the moment of icing. These pictures are from day three of this cake's life, after it had been hidden under foil overnight, and thus does not do the cake justice. This is a bummer. But trust me, the icing is not so hard as it seems, as you only need to rough ice this cake. You are making both the chocolate ganache and the Bailey's buttercream, but they use different methods. You don't have to cream the butter for the ganache, and the amounts come out perfectly to ice the center layers and sides in the chocolate ganache and use all of the buttercream for the top of the cake. 

This recipe makes three layers in 8" cake pans, or 2 layers in 9" cake pans. If you are like me and get very anxious about evenly weighing your cake pans/ do not have three cake pans so need to make them in waves, I have found that 2 lbs. for each layer should be about right (1 lbs 15 3/4 oz if you are using large instead of extra large eggs) for an 8" cake. Make sure, if you are making the 9" pan, that your cake pan is at least 2" deep. If you only want to use a single can of Guinness (weighing in a 14.9 oz), you can top off the cake with water or cold coffee (as a substitute for the espresso powder). Or you can enjoy the rest of that smooth 2nd Duck Rabbit milk stout during the cooking of the cake.

Chocolate Milk Stout Cake (Guinness Cake)

Ingredients

Stout Cake
2 cups stout or dark beer, such as Guinness
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups Dutch-process cocoa
4 cups All purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 extra large eggs
8 oz sour cream


Chocolate Whiskey Ganache
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 -4 tablespoons whiskey (to taste)
1 teaspoon espresso powder

Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting
 3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue 

1/4 cup Baileys - 1 airplane bottle's worth, plus more to taste

Additional milk or cream for blending if necessary.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Cut three round parchment paper circles that fit neatly in the bottom of 3 8" cake pans or 2 9" cake pans.
3. Grease and flour three 8" or two 9" cake pans, and line them with the parchment paper circles.
4. For the cake: Place the stout, espresso powder and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.
6. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
7. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
8. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the eggs, vanilla and sour cream on medium for about a minute.
9. Add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.Use a batter guard if you have one.
10. Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time and mix together at slow speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute. 
11.  Divide the batter equally among the prepared pans. (See above for weighing hints.) Drop the pan a couple times against the top of the counter to even out batter and let any air bubbles escape prior to baking.
12. Bake the layers for 35-38 minutes for 8" pans, or 45 to 50 minutes for 9" pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. 
13. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely before frosting. If you are reusing a cake pan, wait an additional 10 minutes for the empty pan to cool before rinsing and re-greasing. 
14. For the whiskey ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl along with the espresso powder if using.
15. Bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, stirring frequently and watching to make sure not to scald the cream.
16. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is completely smooth and melted. The mixture will start out looking almost a little separated before chocolate melts and blends. 
17. Stir in the whiskey and vanilla. Refrigerate until the icing is spreadable, stirring occasionally, about an hour and a half. If you do not stir the edges will get overly stiff and have to be reincorporated during assembly.
18.  For the Bailey's Irish Buttercream: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
19. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread or thicker, drizzle in the Baileys (or cream if you are doing the non-alcoholic option) and whip it until combined and frosting is correct texture. 
20. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Adjust for taste and desired degree of alcohol.
21. To assemble: If all of your cakes are rather domed, trim one cake layer to have a flat top, if necessary.
22. Place the layer upside down on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread 1/3 of the chocolate whiskey icing over just the top of the layer, starting with a large mound of icing in the middle of the cake, and moving your spreader around in a circular motion to spread icing all the way to the edges of the layer. Don't worry if it spills over the edges of the cake a little, you'll get to fix that later.
23. Top with another cake layer, top side down, and repeat the process. If you baked three layers, add that one also.
24. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake. You can gently press the layers closer together if the stacking feels a little iffy, but be very careful to keep the cake straight. To clean up your mess on the edge of the serving plate, using a paper towel dipped in water to carefully remove any chocolate.
25. Top the top layer of the cake with a generous layer of the Bailey's buttercream frosting, making sure that the edge of the Bailey's covers the top of the edge of whiskey ganache. 
26. Store in fridge until ready to serve. Remember that the top layer of buttercream will not stiffen as much as the ganache will.
    

Guiness Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting (Car Bomb Cupcakes)

UPDATE- So I updated this recipe a bit when I made a Guiness Cake this year for St. Patrick's Day. The cake recipe is a bit denser than this recipe, relying on baking powder more than baking soda to rise and with a little more chocolate. I also made the chocolate whiskey frosting.

Guiness cake is delicious. It can be made with any chocolate or dark stout beer, such as Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. There seem to be two main recipes for it online, Nigella Lawson's and the Great Barrington Brewery recipe. I have made both. These cupcakes I choose Nigella Lawson's, adapted it for cupcakes, and increased the darkness to it by adding a 1/4 cup of coffee in addition to the Guiness. However, while the recipe calls for a cream cheese frosting, I used the Bailey's Irish Cream Butter Cream recipe found on Smitten Kitchen. If you are asking, why did you not ALSO do the Chocolate Whiskey Ganache on Smitten Kitchen to truly make it a car bomb cupcake? The answer is two-fold. First, I didn't have a tiny baking round at my disposal, as this was made at my sister's house for my brother-in-law's birthday. Secondly, this cake is very rich and the Bailey's frosting is over the top and alcoholic as is. Last time I made the full-sized cake (using the Great Barrington recipe plus a little extra chocolate), I accused it (the cake) of getting me drunk. That might have been an unfair accusation given the wine consumed at that dinner party prior to the cake's arrival on the scene, but the point is the same. There's alcohol in the Bailey's and I think that's enough and that the whiskey ganache is unnecessary.

Unlike the Irish Cream, the Guiness alcohol does cook fully off, so if you want to serve this to kids, just do a basic cream cheese frosting instead. When I make this for St. Patrick's Day, I only top the top of the cake, making it look like a glass of Guiness with the foam on top. 

The superfine sugar is always nice to use in baking. If you don't have it, you can just use regular sugar, or if you are feeling fancy, run 2 cups of regular sugar through a food processor for a minute, creating a finer sugar. Remember that making frosting is not an exact science (unlike most else things in baking, so enjoy it). It will look wrong, then right, then wrong again. The trick is to add the powdered sugar in batches at a time to the creamed butter. This not only prevents a mess of powdered sugar everywhere, but also tends to require less sugar to hit your desired fluffy and delicious consistency.

Guiness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting (Car Bomb Cupcakes)

Guiness Cake:

Paper or Aluminum  muffin or cupcake wrappers
1 cup Guinness stout + 2 tablespoons
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/8 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder

1/4 cup cold coffee and/or 1 tsp espresso powder (both optional)
2 cups superfine sugar (I have used regular granulated sugar with no ill effects)
3/8 cup sour cream
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Bailey's Frosting:

3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys - 1 airplane bottle's worth

Additional milk or cream for blending if necessary

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Line muffin tins with foil or paper liners
3. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter JUST melts, then remove from heat into medium sized bowl. 
4. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. 
6. Add sour cream and egg mixture to Guinness mixture.
7. Add coffee and espresso powder if using.
8. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. 
9. Pour into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 of the way, and bake until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes, rotating once for even baking. This may slightly deflate the cupcakes, so it might be good to have an official "tester" cupcake.
10. Leave in muffin tins for five minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Do not frost until completely cool.

For the Frosting

1. Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
2. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread or thicker, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk if you are doing the non-alcoholic option) and whip it until combined and frosting is correct texture. 
3. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
4. Frost the top of the cupcakes and serve. Store in a covered container in the fridge. They should keep for at least a day before starting to go stale.

Peanut Butter/ Nutella Chocolate Cupcakes

The second I saw the recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes in Barefoot Contessa's book, I knew I would be making them, because I am an unabashed sucker for classic peanut butter/chocolate combinations. You don't see as many peanut butter chocolate cupcakes in the cupcake world as you'd initially think considering the dominance of the peanut butter chocolate combination in the rest of the sweet/dessert/candy market. The best reason I can give for this is that these cupcakes are RICH. Not cloyingly sweet, just very, very rich. This is one of the reasons why the lightness of the texture in the cupcakes (that you get by creaming the batter almost like you're making frosting or cookie dough at the beginning) is such a good match. The end result is essentially a Tagalong cupcake.

The Nutella version of the frosting is moister, due to the higher oil content of Nutella, or at least this is what I am assuming because just like Nutella cookies are flatter and rise less than peanut butter cookies, this frosting just doesn't cream quite as well as the peanut butter version. This leads to a different but still very pleasant experience because Nutella is basically instant goodness on everything it touches. The salt in the frosting leaves a nice, noticeable, welcome kick to the frosting. I used kosher salt, but if you'd prefer, you can use a finer grain. Unlike baking, frosting measurements really don't have to be super accurate, so feel free to experiment with amounts until it reaches a stiffness and sweetness of your liking. My only strong recommendation is that you make sure your ingredients are room-temperature before using them, especially the butter. Cold butter just doesn't cream as well, and both the cupcakes and the frosting really get their great consistency from creamed butter.

Barefoot Contessa writes all of her baking for a standing mixer, but given the size of my urban kitchen, I'm a hand mixer kind of gal, so I've adapted it. By the way, an investment in a good quality hand mixer with clear differences in speeds (a distinct low, medium low, medium, medium-high, and high) is a solid way to invest in kitchenware if you plan on baking. A good one will last decades. A cheap target one will fail you in delicate recipes (luckily, this is NOT that delicate of a recipe).

Peanut Butter/Nutella Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature 2 tablespoons brewed coffee 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Peanut Butter Icing 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 cup creamy peanut butter 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup heavy cream

Nutella Icing  1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more if needed for added stiffness  1 cup Nutella   5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature   1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract   1/4 teaspoon kosher salt   1/2 cup heavy cream

Fluffy batter= fluffy cupcake

Creaming peanut butter frosting

Use a round 1/4 cup measure

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and 2 sugars with an electric hand mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. 
3. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. 
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. 
5. In another medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. 
6. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. 
7. Push down on the sides with a rubber spatula, then fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.
8. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1/4 cup measure or a rounded ice cream scoop per cupcake). 
9. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 
10. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
2. With an electric mixer, mix ingredients on low until powdered sugar is combined.
3. Move to medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. For the nutella icing, the consistency will be thicker, almost like a very soft fudge. For the peanut butter icing, the consistency will be more like a traditional butter cream.
4. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light, fluffy and smooth, and has increased in volume, like a store bought butter cream. (The nutella version may be slightly moister).