Black Forest Cake

I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the cake until I wrapped it up....but better laye than never.  I found the recipe here. Awesome cake. Moist, tender, and oh so good.

The recipe called for coffee but I decided to try out kahlua and stout instead. Interesting flavors from both but I did prefer the stout. More complex flavor I thought.

Chocolate garnish is purely optional. It's hard to resist adding more chocolate though.  Whipped cream under the cherries is also not a must but I wanted whipped cream throughout my cake instead of just around the edges.


Black Forest Cake

1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Kahlua or stout
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 can cherry pie filling
1 large container cool whip

Beat together oil and sugar. Add in eggs, blending well. Add in cocoa powder, stout, and vanilla. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in alternately with buttermilk.

Pour batter into two greased 9 inch rounds with parchment on the bottom. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done. Cool ten minutes in pan before removing to finish cooling.

Place one layer of cake on cake plate. Top with whipped cream and cherries. Add second layer and repeat spreading whipped cream down sides of cake. Garnish with chocolate if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

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Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

Ages ago I ran across the recipe for the "Baked" Brownie over at Fake Ginger.  Super yummy brownies?  I had to test this out for myself since I managed to get in some kitchen time over the weekend.  Ahhhh baking.....how I've missed you.

Not being a fan of coffee I always substitute in stout....which took some tinkering in this recipe given the original contained espresso powder.  The brownies turned out nicely though.  Rich, dark and tasty.....oh yes.  The texture is more of a cross between cake and a brownie, but I didn't mind that too much.



Dark Chocolate Stout Brownies

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup warm stout
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the warm stout and the cocoa powder.  Set aside.  Combine butter and dark chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring often.  Stir stout mixture into butter mixture.  Stir in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix in eggs.  Fold in salt and flour.  Pour into a greased 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins or until brownies are set.  Cool before slicing.

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.