seeking a chocolate cake recipe

quathan (sp?) posted a really good one of a chocolate cake with Guiness. I've made it twice and had rave reviews both times. It's under a thread about flourless chocolate cake for some reason.

Chocolate cake.

Glad that you like that Guinness chocolate I posted, it also freezes well.

Heres the same recipe again as it was in the wrong place wasn't it. Thanks

Rich chocolate cake
This is Gary Rhodes cake recipe..
If you like chocolate you will love this one..... qahtan

RICH STOUT CAKE

This is a chocolate cake with a difference. It's a basic chocolate cake recipe with the addition of rich stout which makes a very deep, rich cake, not only with the flavour of stout but also the colour to go with it. Guinness works very well in this recipe. The combination of the soft brown sugar and stout gives you fuller texture and taste. Also 100-225g (4-8 oz) of plain chocolate can be grated into the mix to give an even stronger taste. It's very good to eat as a cake, or for real chocoholics, you could warm a slice in the microwave and serve it with a Rich Chocolate Sauce (see p.248).

225g (8 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
350g (12 oz) soft brown sugar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
4 eggs, beaten
400 ml (14 fl oz) stout (Guinness)
225g (8 oz) plain flour
100g (4 oz) cocoa

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350 F /gas 4. Butter a 20-25 cm (8-10 in) deep cake tin. Cream together the butter with the soft brown sugar.

Gradually add the beaten eggs. Sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix the stout with the cocoa powder. Now add the flour and stout mixes alternately to the butter and eggs until completely and evenly bound. You will find the consistency to be quite soft.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until set. You may need to cover with a piece of brown paper after an hour to prevent it browning too much. Allow to cool before removing from the tin. The stout cake is now ready -cheers!

Variations

Pouring a glass of stout always leaves you with a lovely finish on the top. You can do exactly the same with this cake. Melt 100 to 175g ( 4-6 oz) of grated white chocolate with 100-175 g (4-6 oz) of butter and 1-2 measures of Irish whiskey until just softened, then leave to cool. You now have a rich white chocolate icing to spread on top of the cake.

To make a glass of Stout Cake Pudding, simply blitz some of the cake to a crumb stage and spoon into 300 ml (1/2 pint) glasses, leaving 1-2 cm (1/2 û 3/4 in) clear at the top. Soak the sponge crumbs in a flavoured syrup or perhaps add freshly grated chocolate or even fruits or raisins. Finish the dish with Irish Whiskey Sabayon (p.245) and pour on top. This, as you can imagine, looks just like a real half pint of thick creamy stout and tastes just as good!

Here's the sabayon to go with the cake variants. Enjoy it.

Sabayon

Sabayons go particularly well with ice-creams or can be spooned over tarts or flans and then made into a golden brown glaze under the grill. This recipe is different from the original. You can add almost any flavours and tastes to suit the dessert of your choice.

4 egg yolks
6 tablespoons Marsala,
50 g (2 oz) caster sugar

All these flavours can be made using the same method, whisking together the yolks with the sugar and the flavour of your choice over a pan of simmering water, which will at least double the volume.

MAKES 900 ml (1-1/2 pints)

Note: The sabayon can also be made in an electric mixer. To help it along, simply warm the bowl first.

Variations

There are many other flavours that can be added to a sabayon. To this quantity, the grated zest of 1-2 lemons, oranges or limes can be added, replacing half the Champagne or white wine with the juice of the fruit. This will give you a very strong citrus fruit sabayon that will eat well with a steamed sponge or maybe ice-cream of the same flavour. Of course, all of the flavours can be mixed. A good home-made or bought raspberry ice-cream or sorbet with a lemon sabayon is delicious. Or perhaps chocolate ice-cream or steamed sponge with orange sabayon or a good white chocolate ice-cream with lime sabayon.

To add even more taste to these, three-quarters of the liquid, wine or flavouring can be replaced with lemon curd or good orange marmalade to make it even more flavoursome.

Reducing the sugar content to 25 g (1 oz) and adding 3-4 tablespoons of golden syrup with 1-2 tablespoons of water gives you an amazing golden syrup sabayon. Eating that spooned over a golden syrup steamed sponge instead or as well as custard is wonderful.

Yield 3- 9”

Dark Pistoles 6oz
Sugar 4c
AP 3.5c
Cocoa Powder 1.5c
Baking Powder 1T
Baking Soda 1T
Salt 2tsp
Milk 2c
Oil 1c
Eggs 4ea
Vanilla 1T+ 1tsp.
Boiling Water 2c.

• Melt chocolate in double boiler
• Sift dry ingredients together and put in mixer.
• Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla and mix gently. Scrape bowl.
• Add melted chocolate. Scrape bowl.
• Stir in boiling water. Scrape bowl.
• Divide into 3 greased/parchment lined pans.
• Bake @ 350˚ with NO fan for 45min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

EDIT: this recipe is from the little black book of chocolate. its very good! cut the recipe in half and use 8" cake pans.

huh? what are dark pistoles and what is ap?

One place I worked at had a great cake that they ran across accidently. It was a pudding based chocolate cake (I think) that was very dense. As it turned out while R & D'ng it they undercooked it leaving it under done in the center. Turns out it made for a very dense almost truffle like cake. Make 2 of those and turn them upside down and it leaves a nice cavity for filling with Mousse for an exceptional cake.

AP = All purpose flour
and Pistoles are little, lets describe them like flattened Hershey Kisses. :look:

thanks chrose - was worried that pistoles were some kind of disease, might need some penicillin!

This is from Nestles and you really need a glass of ice cold milk or a cup of hot coffee with it: :p

Swiss Chocolate Cake with Sour Cream Velvet Frosting

preheat oven to 375 degrees

one 6-oz pkg (1 Cup) of Nestles Semi-Sweet chocolate bits/chips
1/4 cup water
2-1/4 Cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1-3/4 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup of softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 Cup of buttermilk

Combine water and chocolate bits over low heat and stir until blended and set aside.

Sift together (and set aside) flour, baking soda and salt.

Cream butter, add sugar, vanilla and eggs (one at a time). Then,

Blend in semi sweet chocolate mix; stir in alternately (in small amounts) flour mix and buttermilk.

Pour into greased and floured 8 or 9 inch layer cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool and frost.


Sour Cream Velvet Frosting

one 6-oz package (1 Cup) Nestles semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 Cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2-1/2 Cup sifted powder sugar

Melt chips over hot water. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream, vanilla and salt. Gradually beat in powder sugar.

(Frosting will fill and frost two 8" or 9" layers or a 13x9x2 cake.)

haha, thats my bad..! its the recipe from work, i just copied and pasted it!

side note- we have a mixer we named "goliath" cuz hes big, so i remembered to change his name in the recipe to "mixer" .. ok i guess you had to be there.:smoking:

Espresso In Chocolate Desserts

Jayme, whatever chocolate cake you do end up making, try adding a tbsp or 2 of finely ground espresso (or instant espresso powder, if you can find it). It heightens the chocolate flavour, adds a bit of depth, and deep brown colour, as well.

I use the espresso in my ooey gooey brownie cookies.

Chocolate cake.....

Jamie, it would be better if you didn't add any coffee etc to the chocolate cake recipe I submitted, if you make it at per recipe and add the grated chocolate as per recipe you find the flavour needs no embellishment.. :-))) qahtan

Hi Gahtan, a fellow Ontarian. In my opinion, everything can be improved upon. If you haven't tried your cake with the addition of espresso powder, don't knock it. How do you think cooking and baking evolved over the millenia, anyway?

Anyone interested in making 2 versions of the chocolate stout cake recipe - one with espresso and one without? Now that Gahtan's become so defensive, I'd love to know how the cake turns out with and without.

You just can't keep a professional recipe developer from twiddling with her food!

Chocolate cake

I agree for the most part that the coffee could improve the cake if the chocolate flavour wanted a boost.
I am not knocking it I just feel that this cake in particular does not require it.

Now coffee / expresso powder does wonders for a date cake.

PS. My daughter was also a grad from George Brown, can't remember exactly when, but it was when George Brown first went into Adelaide St. qahtan

Hi again Qahtan. Which program was your daughter in? I graduated in Culinary Management in 1999, about 3 or 4 years, I believe, after they moved from Kensington Market to Adelaide St.

While expresso or coffee can add a bit of depth, enhance color, etc - - the chocolate cake recipe from Nestles doesn't need it. It's always been my experience that it's best to follow a recipe as closely as possible the first time and to "enhance" it the next time - - if there is a next time. ;)

You do have a good point. Why fix something if it ain't broke yet...

Mea culpa!

Gail.............. George Brown.

Checked with Karen when she left George Brown, it was in 89,,,, :-)))

qahtan