Just in time for Valentines day – ladies, you can totally surprise your loved one with a delicious, homemade chocolate beer cake! Yes – you are reading this right – this cake is made with beer. I made it last night and got rave reviews not only from my husband, but also from a friend who stopped by for a visit. And you don’t have to worry – you , or anyone else will not taste the beer – it blends beautifully with the cocoa and all other ingredients. I have cut my cake in a half, filled it with sliced bananas and iced it with some leftover cream cheese icing. You can leave it uncut and just ice it like you would any other cake. My original thought was to fill it with strawberries and I am sure that would be really good as well.
For beer, I used Waterloo Dark, made by our local Brick Brewery. I have found that the Brick Brewery beers work well for me and as I mentioned before, I use products that are grown or made locally as much as possible.
So – you can get creative – just bake the cake and enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 3/4 cups of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of beer (preferably dark)
Directions:
1. As always – I recommend getting all ingredients ready – it really does make the preparation easier and you will not miss anything!
2. Preheat over to 350F and prepare your baking pan. I used 10 x 10 pan but 9×13 will work just as well. Spray with a non-stick baking spray or grease and flour to make sure cake doesn’t stick. I used the spray – chocolate cakes have a tendency to pick up some of the flour used for dusting the pan and then they don’t look so nice)
3. Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda in a medium size bowl. The one thing to watch here for is that the cocoa is completely powdered – little pieces can stick together so take care and mix this well.
4. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Then beat in the vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
5.Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. cool for a few minutes and then remove from baking pan by turning it upside down onto a board or a tray.
7. I sliced my cake in a half and filled it with thinly sliced bananas
8. Icing with was easy for me, since I had some cream cheese icing left over in a fridge. You can use white icing, whipping cream or any other icing you like to use for a chocolate cake. If you need a recipe for great icing, try this one:
I usually decorate my cake more elaborately – this time, I just used a fork to create a bit of a lattice effect.
Hope you try this recipe – and please send me your comments and pictures if you at all can – your input is very welcomed and much appreciated!
