Dear kids: Make friends with people older than you. That way, when you turn 21, they will be able to go out with you, party, buy you drinks, and--best of all--make you a cake of delicious liquory complexity.
My awesome (and ickle) roomie found herself in just such a situation a few days ago, as she turned 21 in a fog of cake and booze. The best kind of fog, really. She had requested a Guinness cake a few months back (probably when I was making my Guinness cupcakes), and I decided to turn her request into a full-blown Irish Car Bomb homage.
Good idea, or best idea ever? The votes aren't quite tallied, but it's certainly up there. Make it and decide for yourself. And then invite some friends to help you consume the leftovers!
Irish Car Bomb Cake
Guinness Chocolate Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (mine was, of course, a mix of mostly white and a smidge brown)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
Heat oven to 325 F. Grease two 9" cake pans, or whatever you're planning on making this cake in.
Melt the butter in a smallish saucepan over medium heat, add Guinness partially through the melting process. Bring both to a low simmer and add the cocoa powder, whisking until smooth and delightfully chocolatey smelling (WARNING: Don't lick the batter at this point. Unsweetened cocoa powder will lure you with its chocolatey smell and then punch you in the face with capital-U Unsweet.) Set aside and let cool slightly.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together eggs and sour cream until smooth. Fold in the chocolate-butter-Guinness mixture and beat until just combined. Then fold in the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Divide batter evenly among cake pans and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester in the center comes out clean.
Whiskey Chocolate Filling
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp heavy cream
Splash whiskey
Splash brandy (for fun)
Melt these delectable ingredients together in a double boiler after you've pulled out the cakes. Pop one of the cakes out of its tin and spread the melty liquory chocolate over the top. Then finagle the other layer of cake on top. (This was the trickiest bit for me. Well, this and managing not to drink all the Guinness pre-baking...)
(Also managing not to eat the cake before it was finished...)
Irish Cream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp Irish Cream Liquor
2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
This, I played by ear, which is what one has to do with frostings. You just add sugar and butter and cream and liquor until it looks right, tastes right, and seems like it will spread alright on a cake. The measurements above are probably close..ish?
Mix butter with an electric mixer until it's nice and creamed. Add a tablespoon or so of the liquor to give it a bit more liquidity. Then add in the confectioner's sugar (armed with the expectation of getting a fine dusting of it all over yourself), mixing it a bit at a time. Alternate with dollops of sour cream, whipping cream, and liquor.
When you're done, frost that cake! Then eat the cake! Then use your leftover ingredients to do some Irish Car Bombs with your friends! Because it's college, and that's what you do.
A lesson for the kids, from BlissandTell.
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