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Chocolate Guinness CakeA deliciously moist, rich,
dark and flavoursome cake which is not to excessively sweet. Take 250ml of Guinness,
225g of salted butter, 75g of coco powder, a  cinnamon stick, a split
vanilla pod, 300g of plain flour, 400g castor sugar, 1½ teaspoons of
bicarbonate of soda, a nut of fresh nutmeg, 2 medium eggs, 200ml of sour
cream, 200ml of double cream and 200g of dark chocolate. Preheat an
oven to 180° C gas mark 4. Grease and line a 26cm cake tin with baking
parchment. Heat 250ml of Guinness in a heavy pan and add 225g of salted
butter. Bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat when the butter has
melted. Sieve 75g of coco powder into pan and whisk until smooth. Add
the whole cinnamon stick and vanilla pod. Allow to rest. Sift together
300g of plain flour, 400g of castor sugar, 1½ teaspoons of bicarbonate
of soda and a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg. Beat together 2 medium
sized eggs in a large bowl. Combine the eggs with 200ml of sour cream.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the Guinness mixture. Pour the Guinness
mixture over the beaten eggs and cream. Gently fold the dry ingredients
into the mixture until just combined. Pour this cake batter into the
prepared tin. Bake for about an hour. Remove from the oven and allow
cooling on a wire rack. Prepare the icing by slowly heating 200ml of
double cream in a pan. Break 200g of quality dark chocolate into small
pieces. Add the chocolate to the cream, stirring continuously. The icing
should be thick and glossy. Allow to cool slightly. Spread evenly over
the top of the cooled cake. As an alternative topping replace the dark
chocolate with 200g of cream cheese and add 100g of icing sugar.
Dissolve the sugar into the cream and allow cooling before adding the
cream cheese. Spread over the cake. Serve as required.
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