Finn is posting a cake. A chocolate cake, at that. The world has officially gone mad.
Usually I leave the sweets to Chelsea, since I’m really more of a fat tooth kind of gal, but even so… sometimes a lady just needs a slice of cake, amirite? A cake involving beer. And whiskey.
As I’ve mentioned in recent posts, life has been whizzing past incredibly quickly these days. It feels like yesterday was Christmas and the day before that, somehow, summertime. If things keep up at this pace, I will be 40 years old by next week.
Keeping up with the blog has been a challenge to say the least, but it’s a hobby I really enjoy and a great creative outlet outside of work, so if one day every weekend I can get my act together, re-make and then take pictures of some of the week’s best recipes- it’s worth it. Totally worth it.
It’s a juggling act, working full time and attempting this blog. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- I could not do this without my trusty partner in crime, Port- errr, Chelsea.
One thing Chels and I have both struggled with is keeping up with the holidays! Valentine’s Day just passed and, since neither of us ever really celebrate it with our gents, we totally dropped the ball on cooking up some special ‘Valentine’s Recipes.’ I mean, we did a Top 10 list, which I guess counts for something (even if it is the blogging equivalent of a sitcom clip-show), but you get the idea.
So, this time I am being preemptive. I am being so on the ball I am posting a St. Patrick’s Day recipe A MONTH AHEAD OF TIME. (suck it, blogging gods, I am going rogue!)
(Also it gave me a great excuse to buy some Guinness while the weather is still cool enough for it to really schmeck.)
(Update: Not to rub it in for all of you in along the Eastern seaboard buuut, it’s been sunny, warm and springtimey all week here in Vancouver. The blossoms are out. The birds are singing. There are actually bunnies hopping around- seriously. Baby bunnies. It’s like a friggin’ Disney special over here.)
Colin’s birthday is the day after St. Patrick’s Day so during university, he always celebrated a day early (nothing says happy birthday like everyone you know being cripplingly hungover, I guess). These days, since we’re ‘official adults’ who have responsibilities like jobs and mortgages and stuff, we rarely do much for St. Patrick’s Day- our green beer days are a thing of the past. Still, maybe some Guinness chocolate cake? Whiskey cream? Maybe some extra Guinness on the side?
I reserve the right to eat this entire cake and drink the rest of the beer in my pajamas, though- it is a Tuesday night this year. But hey, I could get green pajamas! That’s a thing, right? Close enough.
This chocolate cake is flourless, but I cannot call it gluten-free since technically Guinness (as with most beer) contains gluten. It is wheat-free, though, so… still counts for something?
Sláinte!
| Flourless Guinness Chocolate Cake with Whiskey Whipped Cream | | Print |
- Guinness Chocolate Cake:
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup butter
- 1 can Guinness beer, reduced to ~ ⅓ cup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup ground hazelnuts
- 3 eggs separated
- .
- Whiskey Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp whiskey
- 1 Tbsp icing sugar
- Bring Guinness to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until it reduces to a syrupy consistency. You should have about a third of a cup of liquid left.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a cake pan with a touch of butter and dust with a spoonful of hazelnuts.
- Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently to ensure the chocolate does not burn. Stir the Guinness reduction, sugar and egg yolks into the melted chocolate. Stir in the ground hazelnuts.
- Whisk egg whites until dry and stiff.
- Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture and pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan, dust with additional icing sugar if you like.
- Whisk heavy cream, icing sugar and whiskey together until cream is thick and fluffy. Serve over top cooled cake.
err…what size pan did you use? Looks fabulous!
Thanks, Mina! I used a 9 inch springform pan.
Absolutely amazing cake! I was nervous about tackling it as I’m not much of a baker but wanted to do something other than the rum cake this year. It was so easy! The cake was super moist and not too sweet. The cream was amazing. It was a HUGE hit at our family party and looked simply amazing. Thanks
Great to hear, Ann! I’m not much of a baker myself so you know if I can do it, you definitely can 😉
I’ll cook for you anyday!!