Monster Chocolate Stout Cake

I continue to whittle away at the mountain of recipes I've been wanting to try out.  ;)  At the top of the chocolate cake pile was this wonderful recipe I found over at Ryan Bakes.  I combined it with another really cool cake recipe from Completely Outnumbered.  A twofer....who could pass that up...ehehehe. 

I'm not a coffee drinker so I replaced the coffee with stout....and because I never take the conservative approach I used a LOT of stout.  I was a wee bit nervous about how the end product was going to taste, but it was amazing.  Seriously....dive face first in....amazing.

It was definitely an adult orientated flavor.  I doubt this cake would appeal greatly to the young ones between the dark chocolate glaze and stout.  I actually ate more cake than I intended chasing after the taste....that's my excuse and I'm totally sticking with it....ehehehehe.  A bite of this cake leads off with a lovely rush of chocolate followed by the stout....so good.

I drizzled the sweetened condensed milk over the cakes while they were still in the pans which actually made the cake bottoms quite sticky and a challenge to remove from the cake plate when serving.  Next time I think I'll flip the cakes out of the pans and drizzle from the top down.

I used candy corn and peanut butter to make my Butterfinger crumble topping instead of actual Butterfingers. Mix 1 cup candy corn and 1 cup peanut butter and heat in the microwave, stirring vigorously to create this.


Monster Chocolate Stout Cake


1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or soured milk
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups hot stout (Guinness)


2 - 14oz cans non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 tbls milk
Crushed Butterfingers & Toffee Pieces (or candy of your choice)


In a large bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugars to this and mix together lightly.  Slowly add the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and stout, mixing well.

Pour the batter into 3-8inch greased rounds or divide between a greased bundt and tube pan.  Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes at 350 or until cake test as done.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Use a skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the cakes.  Slowly drizzle one can of the sweetened condensed milk over the holes so it will soak down into the cakes.  After about 30 minutes, flip cakes out of pans to finish cooling.

Stir together remaining can of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth and melted.  Stir in milk to thin to desired consistency.  Spoon over top of the cakes.  Top with crushed candy.  Chill to set chocolate before slicing.