As you know, I love trying new things with chocolate, and I usually have no difficulty in finding taste testers. Occasionally though, the experiments can start to pile up.
These bars certainly looked pretty – the dark 70% chocolate tempered beautifully, and I’d stirred through leftover candied rind, almond slivers and glacé ginger. But the flavours were a bit too intense, and after a month or so of sitting in the choccy box, the bars were looking scuffed and a little worse for wear…
So I blitzed them up in the food processor, and used them in our Guinness chocolate cake…
We first blogged about this cake years ago, and I’ve made it a dozen times since. It’s a firm family favourite!
My revised ingredients list for this version is as follows (I’ve copied the instructions below to save you flicking between posts – the original post has detailed photos):
- 250g (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 375g (1¾ cups) soft dark brown sugar
- 4 large (59g) free range eggs
- 250g (12/3 cups) plain (AP) flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder, sifted
- 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted
- 440ml can of Guinness, at room temperature
- 1 cup (110g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
- 200g surplus dark chocolate, finely ground
1. Preheat oven to 160C (325F) with fan. Spray a 15-cup bundt pan with canola oil spray (or other vegetable oil, just not olive or rice bran oil).
2. Grind the chocolate up in a food processor. Pulse the chocolate until finely crumbled, but be careful not to heat it up too much, or it will melt.
3. In medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sifted bicarb soda and sifted cocoa. Note that you really do need to sift the bicarb and cocoa, or you’ll end up with bitter lumps in your finished cake. Stir in blitzed chocolate.
4. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Add some of the flour mixture to the batter and mix well. Then add in some Guinness and mix again to combine. Continue in this fashion, alternating flour and stout, making sure you finish with a reasonable amount of flour at the end. The mix may appear to curdle, but the final addition of flour will smooth it out again. Beat until the batter is thoroughly mixed – it will be quite soft.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. If you’re using a smaller bundt pan, fill to two-thirds full and pour the remaining batter into muffin tins or small loaf pans.
7. Bake for 60 – 70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out cleanly. If you’re making little cakes as well, remember that they’ll bake much faster – start checking muffin sized cakes after about 20 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let the cake rest for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Chocolate Topping
(from Jamie Oliver’s Return of the Naked Chef)
- 100g/3 ¾ oz butter
- 100g/3 ¾ oz best cooking chocolate
- 100g /3 ¾ oz icing sugar (sifted)
- 3 tablespoons milk
Melt the chocolate topping ingredients in a bowl over some lightly simmering water. Stir until blended well and allow to cool slightly. Pour over cake and allow to set.
. . . . .
Since writing the original post in 2009, I’ve acquired a full-sized 15-cup bundt tin which comfortably accommodated all the batter (it’s too much for the smaller 10-cup bundts). As a result, the cake took slightly longer to bake – about 70 minutes…
The finished cake was spectacularly dark – a product of the higher cacao chocolate in the reject bars combined with the Guinness. The icing provided just enough sweetness to balance out the flavours, and the small pieces of candied rind, ginger and almonds added a surprise to every slice. By day three, the essential oils from the rind had seeped through the crumb, giving the cake a lovely choc-orange flavour.
I think (because it’s hard to be objective about these things) that it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever made…
My blitzed chocolate bars produced nearly 400g of crumbs, and I’ve tucked the leftovers into the freezer for a repeat bake. It was lovely not to have to waste them!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I often find chocolate cake rather disappointing and uninspiring but if this was placed in front of me, I might change my mind! Looks fab Celia.
Anne, thank you! I was really pleased with this one! Know what you mean about chocolate cake in general though – I’m always on the quest to find good recipes for them, but I rarely ever find one in a restaurant that really blows me away!
Hi Celia, I agree with Anne, it certainly looks fab and by the sounds of those ingredients it would taste sensational.
Thanks Glenda! The orange added a really nice touch – I’m a big fan of choc-orange flavours…
Ooo, this sounds like my kind of cake. Could go a slice with a cuppa.
Have a lovely afternoon.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, thank you, hope you’re having a fabulous weekend! Have you seen any elephants? :)
Celia, I just checked out our previous post, If possible, this one looks even better.
Ah, you’re kind hon, thank you! Do you have this big bundt tin? It’s an absolute winner: http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Nordic-Ware-Anniversary-Original-Bundt-Pan.aspx
Great cake – looks fantastic. Really want to make Guinness Cake myself soon… I’m thinking a New Year Guinness Cake Bundt. yummy. By the way – I’ll be perfectly willing to give you my address for any further leftovers ;) – very frugal of you though!
Nick, couldn’t let it go to waste! :) Hope you get to make a Guinness cake soon – they’re really very delicious!
Sounds delicious but never have any chocolate to recycle!
Hahaha…it doesn’t happen often here either…
Looks amazing, as usual, Chocolate Queen!
:-)
Thanks darling! Hope you and Phil and the pooches are all having a great weekend! xx
It’s a shame it’s your best cake, in a way, as you’ll probably never be able to recreate it! It sounds really tasty, and looks soooo good!
Suelle, that’s why I wrote this post! :) Hopefully I should be able to make it again – there’s still more chocolate stashed in the freezer!
Oh my, Celia, this looks absolutely stunning!!!
Thanks Debby! :)
Long live the chocolate baker. Thanks for sharing recipe again. Sue
Womenlivinglifeafter50.com
Most welcome, Sue! Hope you get a chance to make it!
Scuffed those bars maybe Celia, but still beautifully shiny. I don’t know any other home cook who can do chocolate like you – definitely the Chocolate Queen.
i often recycle chocolate that we’re not particularly enamoured of into bakes and so far it’s always worked well. Your cake looks very tasty and so it should with all that chocolate in.
Choclette, that’s very kind of you, thank you! This cake was seriously dark – I loved it, as did our Cornish friends who were over for tea that day! :)
That is amazing! I llove chocolate cake- bundt cake, orange peel and ginger and everything else in your cake. I’ll take a slice, please.
Heidi, I think bundt tins are one of my favourite things to ever come out of the US! This one is the Nordic Ware anniversary bundt, and it’s stunning – the cakes come out tall and elegant. I’d love to be able to share a slice with you!
And it’s presented on a very smart cake board! I love how you put that leftover chocolate to good use. And that’s a very pretty cake tin. Love the look of the glossy icing xx
Charlie, I think you need this cake tin if you don’t already have it – you would do wonderful things with it! http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Nordic-Ware-Anniversary-Original-Bundt-Pan.aspx
I love the flavours that beer can add to sweet or savoury food. This looks good enough for breakfast! :-P
Saucy, you’re brave, too rich even for me for breakfast! :) Morning tea, maybe, though.. ;-)
The cake looks amazing good thing Im not your next door neighbor Id be hovering around the fence line hoping for an invite at the first whiff of that baking in the oven ;)
Helen, there was plenty to share around! :)
Love that Bundt tin, Celia. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Lizzy, it’s such a lovely bundt tin – I love them all, but this one is particularly good for all the big cakes!
The flavours in the chocolate would go so well with the Guinness Celia, delicious indeed! That cake tin is also rather spectacular :) xox
Becca, I go through waves of using the different bundt tins, but this one has been a bit of a favourite lately! Hope you’re enjoying the weekend, darling! x
what a wonderful looking cake celia..and a great way to use the chocolate!
Jane, thank you! I couldn’t bear to waste it!
Another triumph against food waste for you Celia. It looks divine and I’ll bet the ginger was wonderful in the cake.
Amanda, the ginger was chopped into tiny pieces, and it added a little zing to every bit – you’re right, it was wonderful! Thank you!
The concept of “surplus chocolate” is a new one for my household!
Hahaha…you’re not the first person to say that, Melissa! We do make a lot of it though.. :)
That looks lovely my friend! What a triumph of a cake! Blow the trumpets, sound the horn, put the kettle on. Beautifully described, I love the thought of the orange taste spreading through the cake as it matures and as Charlotte of the web might say : SOME TIN!
Thanks dearheart, it really IS some tin! As you said though, it makes a giant cake, so not what everyone needs! :)
You had me at Guinness! And it’s Mitch’s b-day coming up. And he loves chocolate cake. Fingers crossed the oven is kind to me …
Rach, time for a new oven! Hope you get one soon!
Yum yum yum Celia and a nice use of my new favourite tin!
This may be my crazy preggas brain but I can’t seem to see where to add the chopped chocolate?
Step 3, Claire! :) xx
How delicious and so worth trying!
Thanks Tandy! Guinness and chocolate are a particularly nice combination!
I love the texture that Guinness gives chocolate cake. In fact that’s the only reason I buy the stuff-to put it in cake! :P
Lorraine, I always keep a six-pack at home just for that purpose! :)
Hi Celia, looks delicious! The post is closed for comments so thought I’d post it here, I’ve been reading through the site and found your post on the Turkuaz Motif store in Crows Nest. Ive lived in the area for years and have been meaning to go in the store but had never gotten around to it, finally popped in for a quick visit the other day after work. Just thought I’d let you know they are closing down, their lease is finishing due to the redevelopment of Woolworths. Going to pop in on the weekend to get some gifts, the pieces were just gorgeous and they are having a sale so very reasonably priced too.
Stefanie, that’s very kind of you, thank you for the heads up! I’ll try and pop in before they close, otherwise I’ll catch them at the markets. They really are the nicest couple! :)
You are welcome :) popped in on Sunday with family, I found a gorgeous bowl that we will bring to my mother in law when we next visit Canada, my sister bought some lovely small bowls and mum who always says she has too many kitchen things found a trivet that she couldn’t resist. I understand now how you can spend a hour there, I’m usually a quick shopper and I took ages choosing. They will be closing I think in January and I’m planning a return visit soon, such a lovely couple it’s a shame to see them go.
G’day! Looks Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Celia, true!
I could got for a slice of this right now and too bad I don’t live closer as would volunteer to be your chocolate related recipes food taster too! :)
As am sure they would all taste great and look great like your cake today too!
Cheers! Joanne
Joanne, you’re so sweet, thank you! xx
Oooo… I love a good trash to treasure success! This cake looks fab! Don’t you feel so chuffed when you don’t have to throw something out, and you can turn it into a beauty like this? I love it. I hope you are enjoying your weekend Celia :) xx
Emilie, the weekend has been grand, we’ve had really nice weather over here. How’s it all going on your side of the planet? And yes, dead chuffed when I don’t have to throw something out!
“Waste chocolate”? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Isn’t that illegal? Well, I certainly think it a crime. I think it’s great that you used it in this cake, Celia. It looks so chocolate-y and rich, just a good chocolate cake should. And to think you’ve more chocolate bits in the freezer for next time, too. :)
Ha! Not quite illegal, but definitely not the right thing to do. It doesn’t happen very often here! :)
Sounds divine!
Thanks Leah! :)
I would LOVE this cake! I must try it this month.
Maureen, it works equally well with regular chocolate! Hope you enjoy it.. :)
I made this superb looking cake & also the chocolate frosting & the cake + frosting was pretty amazing & wonderful too, dear Celia! Stunning cake! x
Sophie, you’re very kind to try the recipe, thank you! I’m so glad you liked it! :)
I love all of your tasty unique recipes, Celia! xx
Oh I can certainly imagine that cake being a family favorite. Look at the texture! You had me laughing with the heading of recycled chocolate cake because I had visions of you dumpster diving after someone threw out chocolate. Waste not, want not was what my mother always said.
Pete draws the line at dumpster diving. :) It was pretty popular, thanks Di! :)
Too funny & I’m with Pete! Somehow when they plastered the ceiling, one of my lights went missing. I can only assume it was put in a box & junk got put on top of it at which point the box was tossed in the dumpster (we still have that for all of the former kitchen). It’s just an inexpensive hallway light & I wasn’t about to dumpster dive for that one.