Friday 19 April 2013

Stacie Stewart's Black Beehive Frosted Guiness Cake



Found this recipes while searching for cakes using Guiness. After reading the ingredients and method, decided to have a go with it. This is a rich moist cake. It's unusual method, but trust me, you won't be disappointed. The large amount of sugar is necessary to counterbalance the bitterness of the Guiness, so don't be tempted to cut it down. The classic cream cheese frosting cuts the richness of the cake beautifully.

Ingredients:
  • 250ml/1 cup Guiness
  • 400g caster sugar
  • 100g cocoa powder
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 100ml buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate soda
  • 1 tsp salt
Cream cheese frosting:
  • 125g unsalted butter, softened
  • 175g full-fat soft cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 500g icing sugar
  • cocoa pwder, for dusting
Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/160C for fan oven. Grease a 20cm baking tin and line with baking parchment.

Put the Guiness, sugar, cocoa and butter in a pan over a low heat and stir gently until the butter has melted. Leave to cool slightly.

In a large bowl or food mixer, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and vanilla, then add the Guiness mixture, beating until combined.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate soda and salt together. Add in the flour mixture to the Guiness mixture in 3 stages, stirring gently after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix to make sure everything is evenly combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin; it will be really runny. Bake for 60 minutes, until the skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before decorating.

To make the frosting, beat the butter until softened. Add the soft cheese and beat gently, then add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat until thick and creamy. Spead over the top and sides of the cake and dust with cocoa.


Saturday 13 April 2013

Chocolate Mocha Cake


I found this recipes in goodtoknow recipes. Try out this recipe recently and yes I totally agree this cake is an adult cake which comes with strong, dark coffee and rich dark chocolate. Serve this cake with dark chocolate frosting and plenty of walnuts for crunch. Serve with a warm cuppa as an afternoon treat.

Ingredients:
  • 175g butter, softened
  • 175g castor sugar
  • 3 medium eggs, beaten
  • 200g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water, and cooled
  • 60g plain chocolate,finely chopped
For the icing:
  • 125g dark chocolate, broken into pieces and melted
  • 125g butter, softened
  • 250g icing sugar
  • walnut pieces to decorate
Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/ 160C fan. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Put all the ingredients for the cake mixture in a mixing bowl  of an electric mixer and, starting on a low setting, beat together all the ingredients well, Beat for a couple of minutes to make sure all the ingredients are well combined and you have a creamy cake batter. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 to 45 minutes or until the skewer tested in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

For the filling and topping, carefully melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave until cool, but still liquid. Beat the butter and icing sugar, then add the melted chocolate. Beat well before slicing the cake in half horizontally and sandwiching together with half of the icing. Use the remaining icing to swirl on the top and scatter with walnuts pieces.