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Chocolate Cake

by Stephanie March   ::   posted on Mar. 28, 2007 - 10:20am

I just have to talk about chocolate cake for a moment.

I love it, I think about it, I seek it.

Sadly, there are many unfortunate chocolate cake stories out there. Slices that look so promising on a menu can be too rich, too cloying, to flourless.

Density, moistness, simplicity, chocolate-ocity, these are all important factors.

I've tried to make fancy recipes at home, from Masters of Chocolate like Michael Recchiuti but it always seems like a lot of work for nothing special.

I might have found a winner. In an effort to make a special cake for my friend Matt Fennacy's birthday, on St. Patty's Day, I found this recipe for chocolate stout cake. Come on, chocolate cake and beer? Hoooray.

I made some changes (halved the recipe, used a little more Guinness, a little less sugar, threw in some cinnamon and cardamom)and baked it in a bundt pan. It was dense without being leaden. It was moist without being sticky. It was chocolatey without the icky sicky over-sweetness. I think it was the stout that kept the tart in balance, that allowed the dark richness of the chocolate to stand.

No icing needed, just a wallop of fresh whipped cream (or maybe mascarpone sweetened with a bit of dark rum).

Best part: because I used beer, the kids gave me a BLECH face and left it alone. More for me.