Chocolate Stout Cake with Irish Cream Frosting

So for dessert last night, I made chocolate stout (cup)cake(s) with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting. This recipe got great reviews so I was really excited to try it. Needless to say, it was divine. I usually don't even like chocolate cake that much but this was an exception. It was incredibly light and airy with great flavor. (Plus, my husband can't turn down anything with Guinness. ) And, to top it off, I used an irish cream frosting - it turned out more like a glaze because I upped the amount of Bailey's to really give it an irish cream flavor and couldn't think of what else to add to make it thicker (I didn't want to add extra sugar or any cream cheese). However, the glaze tasted wonderful - you could really taste the irish cream and it was delicious without being too sweet (which is often my problem with cake frosting). I made this into 11 cupcakes - I like how portable cupcakes are but it would be easy to make into a 1-layer cake. I was even able to send my father-in-law with one on his trip home and froze half a dozen for future use. And thanks to a lovely birthday gift I received, I was able to find out the best way to freeze a cake is to fully bake it and freeze it without frosting (you can freeze any uncooked frosting separately). Thank you, Don and Carolyn!

Chocolate Stout Cake
Taken from: Unsweetened Cocoa
Makes 1-layer cake or 12 cupcakes, even though I just used a quarter of the original recipe. It would be easy to double the recipe for a nice, 2-layer cake.

• 1/2 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoons salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cups sour cream (reduced-fat or full-fat)
  

-Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter one 8-inch round cake pan or cupcake pans.
-Bring stout and butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
-Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat egg and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
-Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
-Divide batter equally among muffin tins. (Or, for a plenty-huge 2-layer cake, use two cake pans and divide the rest of the batter into a 12-muffin pan for cupcakes.)
-Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.


Irish Cream Cake Frosting
Taken from: AllRecipes
Still a work in progress - it has great flavor but is more of a thin glaze than a thick frosting. This would be at least enough for a 1-layer cake or a dozen cupcakes.

• 1/2 teaspoon milk
• 3 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (buying a mini-size, individual sample of Bailey's is the perfect amount for this recipe)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon strong brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-Place the milk, Irish cream liqueur, and coffee in a small, microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high until the mixture boils (if you don't have a microwave: turn the oven to 450-500 degrees, set the ingredients a oven-proof ramekin or pot, and wait about 5 minutes until the mixture boils). Set aside to cool completely.
-Beat the butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the cooled Irish cream mixture, and beat well.