Smoked Porter Chocolate Cake

Smoked porter chocolate cake 

Having someone in the family who is into craft beer can be a blessing sometimes. I was lying on the couch one evening when a glass of black stuff was passed over with the instruction to taste that. My initial reaction was euw...... But then I asked for another sip. Immediately chocolate cake came to mind. Not sure why, but I was determined to try it.

This recipe uses Beavertown Smog Rocket smoked porter. But any good porter will work as well.

Smoked Porter Chocolate Cake recipe

For the cake
200g butter
125g golden demerara sugar
2 large eggs
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g good quality chocolate (I used half and half 60 and 52% cocoa solids)
150ml porter
1 tbsp dark cocoa powder

For the topping
250g marscapone
100g white chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 deg. Grease and line a deep round cake tin.

Put porter and chocolate in a bowl over a bain marie to melt slowly. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, fold in flour, baking powder, cocoa powder. Finally fold in chocolate and porter mix. Whisk until smooth and well combined. Pour into tin and bake for 45 minutes (it cracks like chocolate brownies, don't leave it in for much longer as better slightly underdone than over). Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of porter over it while still in tin and before it cools fully.

Remove from tin and cool on a wire rack. Melt the white chocolate in a bain marie and whisk into the marscapone.

I deliberately reduced the amount of sugar in the cake as I wanted the taste of the porter and the chocolate to shine. The white chocolate in the marscapone balances it perfectly.