Chocolate Bundt Cake

Have been thinking about making this cake for two weeks. Finally, it is sitting on my counter and it did not disappoint… Delicious. Perfect balance of flavors and texture. Thanks for the delicious addition to our family favorites. I followed the recipe to the tee with the added suggestion to use cocoa powder instead of flour for preparing the bundt pan. Gives the cake a beautiful, deep chocolate sheen.

Heidi… The only tweak was that I added a tablespoon or so of molasses because my brown sugar was a bit on the lighter side.
Can’t imagine that would’ve done it.
I also noticed the batter was a bit frothy and bubbly as it was baking. Never seen anything like that either!

I had a similar experience as Hannah’s…cake totally collapsed and had this souffle/pudding texture. It still tastes ok so there’s that! I think my yogurt may have been too runny. ::shrugs:: Will have to try with a greek style yogurt next time.

HS: Hmm. That is a problem I haven’t had. And I’ve baked this cake with both plain yogurt (the runny kind – full fat), and Greek yogurt (2%)….wondering if you made any tweaks to the recipe?

Fabulous, delicious cake, which I am just now making for the second time. Both times I ended up with a bit too much of the beer / chocolate / butter liquid mix, and this time I’ve used it as the liquid for the icing, to save it going to waste. Have taste tested that icing already -mmm. Thanks Heidi!

I love this recipe. I like the fact that you used whole wheat flour instead of regular. I also like the buttermilk icing although instead of using all buttermilk I added some cocao liquor. Just a little…:-) Great recipe thanks.

heidi – first, belated congrats on the james beard nomination, fantastic and well deserved – your book is a go-to here, and elsewhere I am sure! 🙂
second – we have made this cake three times now (mom’s book club, FIL’s birthday, brother’s visit) – first and third times, spectacular – a moist, rich, bittersweet chocolate flavor that is just right. we have tried the icing with milk and buttermilk and both were really tasty – a nice hit of ‘sweet’ on a cake that is really not too sweet at all (just what we like!). also the third time we used almost 100% whole wheat pastry flour (just maybe a third of a cup of all purpose) and our results were only negligibly different – a bit denser but still really delicious.
the second time we made it something *really* strange happened – it puffed up like a souffle, then ‘crashed’ a couple minutes out of the oven, and the texture was like chocolate scrambled eggs. what on earth? never had anything like this happen to me before – and I bake almost daily around here. my husband thinks maybe an extra egg went in accidentally – has anyone else ever had anything similar?
making it again today, which is why I am back on the site to double check the recipe. we love all your stuff – but this is a keeper for sure. thanks heidi!

Heidi, I made this cake with a decoction of coffee (as I was serving it to children) and it was a hit! Next time I am going to double up on the icing on one side of the cake though.

This cake is everything it promises to be. I used Young’s Double Chocolate Stout for lack of any other good quality stout in local shops (Cape Town, South Africa). The cake is rich and flavoursome, has great texture, not too sweet and easy enough to make. I wasn’t sure if I should use Bicarbonate of Soda or Baking Powder for your Baking Soda. Chose Bicarb and it seems to be the right choice. Thanks Heidi!

Wow, this looks so tasty, dense and rich! It goes straight to my fav list!

I used treacle as the sweet substitute and James Squire’s Spade porter (a tasty local brewery here in Sydney). It’s dark and beautiful with a texture that is almost like mud cake.
I was recently reading up on different types of salt and stumbled across fleur del sel at a providore. If you ever come across it, it’s worth it – it creates a lovely balance to the chocolate flavours in this cake.

This was a big hit with my family. I made it to take on our weekend away. It survived 500 miles in a cool box and was eaten over two days. The only complaint I heard? Not enough icing! I will be making it again next weekend for my Mother in Law’s birthday.
Thank you.

That looks a great recipe, especially as it can stand up to the travelling, I’ll bear it in mind for my next camping trip! And what a beautiful to eat it! Happy and safe travels. 🙂
PS. Buttermilk is exceptional around here, I use a mix of yoghurt and milk when a recipe calls for it.

Heidi, just made this cake yesterday. Truly wonderful! I substituted the flours with spelt flour and almond meal. A dense chocolate-y cake that was not too sweet and a hit with ALL the family. Thank you for sharing. Loving your creativity.

I made this for my birthday. It was my first attempt at cake baking and it turned out really well. My wife took part of it to work, and received glowing comments from a self proclaimed cake connoisseur. Thanks for the recipe!

This Chocolate Bundt was the most AMAZING cake I have ever made. Thank You for the delicious recipe..I served it at a Girls night In…Rave reviews…Thanks for sharing you love of food.

Oh my goodness! Heaven! I finally found some free time and made this cake today after lusting over the recipe for the past week. I used Deschutes Obsidian. And instead of a bundt cake- I lent my pan out and never got it back 🙁 I poured the batter into buttered and floured cupcake tins, baked for 25 minutes (though I should have taken them out a few minutes sooner) turned them out, kept them “upside down,” frosted the bottoms when they cooled and ended up with 24 delicious mini-cakes! Even with the few extra minutes they are moist and fabulous! Since I can’t eat them all my roommate and co-workers will be very happy! Thanks Heidi!!

REALLY want to try this. Although, the beer will be cooked out — I’d prefer to omit, being we don’t drink alcohol. Any suggestions as to a substitute?

This is DELICIOUS.! A very moist, slightly sponge-y cake. There is just a hint of the stout, and a subtle delicious chocolate flavor. Not your average chocolate – while I am a chocolate lover, I am not necessarily the biggest fan of chocolate cakes. This cake is an entirely different category (in a great way).
I used Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and Dagoba cocoa powder. I also used Wallaby Organic Australian-style vanilla non-fat yogurt, instead of plain yogurt, because I had a huge tub on hand. Not too sure what much of a big difference this yogurt made compared to the original recipe.
I baked it in 2 dark metal loaf pans for about 33-35 minutes. I was a little worried it was a little underdone, but like Heidi said did not want to dry it out. It was moist and perfect!
Have 3 pints of chocolate stout leftover. I think I’ll make a beer float with some vanilla gelato! Thanks for the delish recipe Heidi!

I made this for my friend’s birthday yesterday – it was a huge hit. I used oatmeal stout and a combination of muscovado and moleasses sugars. The frosting was a little grainy, so I added a little vanilla and butter, and it was glossy and perfect. Sprinkled with fleur de sel, this cake was magical.

I made it last night! It was amazing! I only had ale, not stout (I’m not even sure of the difference). It left an amazing hint of flavor in the cake, so I recommend it! My husband and I have dairy issues, so I substituted coconut fat for the butter, and coconut milk/vinegar for the yogurt. It turned out amazing! Thank you for the great recipe 🙂

HS: Thanks for reporting back Mary – glad the substitutions worked out.

I love the pictures! Having something sweet for a travel is good idea too. I’ll try it with my bicycle rides next time! thank u!

I can’t wait to make this cake. I recently bought some molasses brown sugar that I hope will be perfect in this mix. Your photography is beautiful as are the recipes. Thanks for creating your blog.

Best chocolate cake. Ever.
My sugar was only a little brown so I substituted a quarter cup of maple syrup with blackstrap molasses. Love that the cake is not too sweet but very moist. The chocolate is a soloist supported with a symphony of the other dark flavors.

Such an easy and delicious chocolate cake! I used Rogue Chocolate Porter and half full fat sour cream, half 2% greek yogurt. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly, mine cooked for about 40 minutes and is very moist. Thinking about serving it next time with some fresh berries!

I made this cake a few days ago and it is really good! They were out of chocolate porter so I used a local creme brûlée porter instead. I substituted one cup of lightly packed brown sugar and used raw cacao for the icing (i ran out of cocoa).
It is fabulous! Mine baked at 35 minutes and was perfect. I agree with you about the flour frost on the outside of the cake after it comes out of the pan.
I also am really grateful for your photos and stories. I went to University in the bay area and grew up in Portland, OR. Now I live in Ontario Canada and miss the west so much. I get to live vicariously through you and some days it really helps me with my own memories.

Made this cake last night for my family, EVERYONE LOVED it. Very moist, good flavor–esp since it is a HEALTHY TREAT!

What beautiful pictures!

Wow this looks so amazing! I love the combination of simplicity and richness.. YUM!!

I have never tried chocolate stout…sounds divine!! 🙂 I love that it still contains whole healthy ingredients. Would oat flour work with this recipe? If so, what measurement would you recommend? lovely photos! Thanks, Heidi…

muscavado sugar is a secret to many yummy cakes :O) this looks incredible.

muscavado sugar is one my most coveted items. i keep it hiding in the pantry, only using for something really special. i think it’s worth breaking it out for this.

Love your recipes! This cake looks delicious I can’t wait to try it. Love that it has yougurt in it. I really like the idea of a travel cake. I like to bake a cake or cookies on Sunday and pack them in the lunch box for sanacking on the go.

I’ve made chocolate stout cake many times but I don’t like the after taste that the stout leaves. Like another reader wrote, espresso coffee works fine in place of the beer but just remember to use only 1 cup of coffee.

To Sarah Brenner-
Thanks for answering my high altitude question regarding adjusting anything. I’ll keep the 50 min. baking time in mind. Going to make it on Friday before we leave for the weekend so that we can take it with us to share with family.

I made this for my daughter’s birthday. We took it to a local restaurant (with permission) and gave a piece to all the servers who sang “Happy Birthday.” Our table server declared it was “the best cake I have ever, ever tasted!” I was very pleased. I live at 7050 feet elevation, and I made no adjustments except to bake it for 50 minutes at the prescribed 350° It remained very moist. It did fall a bit in the oven, but it maintained a nice shape and consistency, just not as tall. Oh, and I used my son-in-law’s home brewed Oatmeal Stout. He declared it a “very good cake.” They plan to take the leftover slices with them on their road trip this week through the Canadian Rockies. Thank you, Heidi!

This looks amazing Heidi, I’m gonna try it soon…thank you for sharing. I adore guinness brownies, so I’m pretty sure this cake will be one of my new favorites!

Chocolate, plus beer in a cake. This will make my husband cry tears of joy. Thank you!

I made this last night and it is THE MOST RDICULOUSLY MOIST cake EV-UH! Death by chocolate (and never fear, for those with kids etc you can’t taste the beer). The sea salt on top really added some zing. Delicious! 100% recommend this recipe. Thanks!

hi – any suggestion to make this more kid-friendly by substituting the beer for something else?
thanks for any tips!

Questions. I live and bake at 6,800′ elevation. Should I make any adjustments in the recipe? I usually start with cold eggs, cold ingredients so that cakes don’t rise high quickly without baking through. Also, could I use Sweet Samovar Crystals instead of brown sugar? Picked up a bag recently when we were in San Francisco and ate at the Samovar Restaurant.

I made this cake to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with my son who loves to cook with me. I made it using Guinness and followed the recipe exactly with the exception of adding a bit of vanilla to the icing and half of a tsp more buttermilk. I baked it for 40m in a vintage flame orange Bundt pan I scored at a yard sale for $3 and it turned out lovely. I doubled the icing recipe because I thought it wasn’t quite enough and I like to be a bit generous. The cake has a dense texture, moist and not too chocolatey or sweet. The icing is of course very rich and the combination is perfect. Thank you for a great recipe and beautiful images.. I’m in love with your blog and will check out your books soon!

I can’t wait to make this…by the way…congrats on the James Beard book Nomination! A great honor.

I made this recipe!!! It turned out fantastic. Here’s what I altered:
I used 1 cup espresso rather than the stout and it worked just fine.
I used 1/2 cup coconut flour and 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour instead of the white flour. I would not use the buckwheat again – it definitely gave it a buckwheat taste. But I don’t know why you couldn’t just use all wheat flour – the cake is so dense it will probably be unnoticeable.
I also ran out of cocoa powder so I melted dark chocolate pieces from a Trader Joe’s organic dark chocolate bar and added powdered sugar with some hot water – it worked perfect for the frosting.
And – I used the cocoa powder trick to dust the pan. But since I didn’t have enough, I also used powdered sugar (I hate the taste of regular flour on the outside of a cake) – it not only tasted great but it didn’t leave any white on the cake.
It was the hit of my luncheon and I will be making it again!!!

Decided to wait until I could get undutched cocoa – the closest I could find here (Durban, South Africa) was raw, unsweetened cocoa.
Very easy to make, love not having to cream butter. I made a small ring and a loaf cake, both turned out very moist. Yummy, but probably could have cooked it a little longer. My icing was also a little runny and so it soaked into the cake. I love that it is not too sweet and feels ‘healthy’.

I love the storytelling element of this post! I’m sure the off-to-grandmother’s house touch makes it extra-decadent.

Thx, Heidi! This is my new favorite chocolate cake. I was out of maple syrup and a.p. flour, so I used a nice local honey and white spelt flour instead. I also halved the recipe for my 6-cup bundt pan. It was a perfect fit and baked in just a little over 20 minutes.

I made this yesterday. Whole Foods did not have chocolate stout so I bought a cappuchino stout made in California. I think I was not patient enough to wait until 2 cups boiled down to 1 so my batter was very runny. I tasted it and it seemed a little bitter so I added some Mexican vanilla and more sugar. Cake turned out great, definitely on the moist side, not as tall (it never really rose much) but perfect flavor. Due to the cake being very spongy, my icing was absorbed by it and did not crust on top like yours. I am going to try that cake again, for sure. I liked it.

HS: Janine – If you make it again, and don’t want to wait for the beer to boil down, you can use beer straight from the bottle – 1 cup. More than that, and things go awry.

I made this cake with Oatmeal Stout and took it to 2 Saint Patrick Day parties on Saturday. Lots of raves about it!

Yum, being a big fan of your Chocolate Loaf Cake I just had to try this one. Delish!
I think it’s been said but watch your beer it will boil over super fast, I just turned for a moment when I heard it boil over.
I used Rogue Chocolate Stout and regular dark brown sugar as we were out of Muscovado. It was perfect and my picky sister loved it even though she had to comment about the salt, she didn’t get it but ate it all.

Heidi, Many, many congratulations on your James Beard Foundation nomination! Hope you will toot your own horn about this! I had to read it elsewhere! Félicitations!

This looks great, but I do have a question. I really hate maple syrup. (really really hate it) What would be a good substitute? I see someone else used honey – would that be a 1:1 substitution?

Made this last night with great success for my roommate’s birthday. Heidi, you have a way of posting something just when it’s needed. Infused the stout with some lavender flowers (had on hand) as it was reducing and then strained them. Sprinkled some lavender flowers with flaky salt on the buttermilk icing, too. A lovely spring cake, Heidi, thank you. So delicious. Thanks for the tip to err on the underdone side! It’s perfect.

Made this today, and it was delicious!!
Love your blog— thank you for sharing.
m.

Heidi, I cannot stop looking at this cake. CANNOT. The photos are just dreamy. And that icing! I just tried to make a bundt cake using honey as a sweetener, and it fell completely flat. 🙁 How does using maple syrup affect the texture of the cake?

HS: Thanks K! Hmm, problem cakes are no fun. Shoot me the recipe if you want me to take a look. Did you use any granulated sugar (I tend to use a blend these days). Like honey, the maple syrup brings some moisture. But honey vs. maple are definitely different beasts.And I’ve found baking with honey (w/o other sweeteners can be super tricky at times!)….

I just finished making this cake and it was by far the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made– unbelievably moist and the stout (I used Guinness) really enhances the chocolate flavor. I ended up baking the cake in two 8-inch cake pans for about 30 minutes. I doubled the icing so I could spread some on the inside. Heavenly! I can’t wait to eat another slice.

looks utterly scrumptious!

Well….I have been dreaming about this cake ever since I received it on my phone! I was camping on a beach in HI….and could not wait to get home to make it. It rained the entire time….what can I say! It is in the oven now! Can’t wait….trying to stay away from the beautiful icing resting on my counter….to be continued…..

I baked this cake tonight with Guinness (as others have noted, it took a good 15 mins to boil down and was at risk of boiling over at the start, so keep an eye open), non-fat Chobani yogurt, and the last of my maple syrup topped up with agave syrup and honey.
I don’t have a bundt pan so split the batter between a loaf tin and an 8X8 glass lasagna dish. As Heidi warns, do not over-fill your tins! I was careful (I thought!) and the loaf tin still overflowed in the oven! The two cakes probably took 75 minutes in the oven.
Instead of making icing, I whipped cream with a drop of vanilla and served the cake warm. Delicious! But we decided to call it Guinness Cake, since the chocolate flavour is not very pronounced when compared to a chocolate cake but is decently chocolatey when thought of as a Guinness Cake! Next time I might add chocolate pieces. Thank you, Heidi. Gorgeous recipe, very moist and flavourful.

Ok, so I made this cake late last night so I could eat it for a special ‘treat’ day today. I was a little worried about the runny batter also, but it turned out so moist and delicious. I also used 0% Fage bc that’s what I had (should have thought to add some cream, but I think it still tastes delicious). Also ran out of wheat berries, so I ground some kamut and substituted it with fingers crossed. Worked out fine! One more change – couldn’t find chocolate porter but I did come across coffee porter, which I thought would be perfect with the chocolate. Flavor in the end was amazing. And I loved the buttermilk dressing. Thanks for the recipe!

That cake looks amazing!

Love the chocolate and stout combination, adds a much deeper flavour that you often find in chocolate cakes.

I made this cake the other night for a friend’s birthday party. It turned out really well, but the batter was very runny and it took about an hour and a half to bake. I’m not sure if this is something I did wrong. Anyway, the cake eventually set and was a hit, quite light and spongy, almost like pudding cake. I’ll make it again for sure, but will take the extra baking time into account. Thanks for the great recipe!

Heidi,
I made the cake last night . . . Good GAWD!! It is just incredible!! I made mine in two loaf pans and only had 0% Fage on hand, so I added in about 1/8 heavy cream to give back some of the fat ;). I also tucked shards of 85% dark chocolate into the top of each loaf which melted into lovely chocolate pools inside. The loaves are just barely solid — deep, dark, rich, super-moist, chocolatey richness! But since it isn’t a terribly sweet cake, it’s not overwhelming. Thank you for yet another amazing recipe!!!

I couldn’t agree more with AnaMaria’s comment from March 16th. We were scanning for tips last night as we were making it because I didn’t think the batter tasted right, and we were thinking exactly what AnaMaria said! More comments from people who have actually made it, please!
In that vain, we made this last night and it tasted better today than it did right out of the oven. It is really good, but it is a deep and rich chocolate dessert, not for people who like super sweet chocolates. We used a dark porter beer and I think it may have made the batter bitter at first and needed time to settle in – I’m not sure.
I felt the same about the icing – I didn’t love it at first last night, but as it all settled together overnight, it seemed to come together really well.

One of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted. Truly!

This looks really awesome! Also, I would be greatly interested in your take on a chocolate rum cake if you ever feel so inclined. Thanks for all the great posts! 🙂

Feedback: Wow, it was good. I’m in Belgium so I sub in ingredients for what I can’t find. Here’s what I did and how it worked: I used a high quality baking chocolate, not cocoa powder, couldn’t find maple syrup, and used a Rochefort 10 for the beer. Thus I increased the sugar, added milk to keep the volumes similar, and made some slight tweaks to follow Heidi’s directions.
1. Since my beer volume was smaller to begin with and more aromatic (dates and plum), I let it reduce down to about 1 cup, then I dissolved the butter, and the 150 g of bar chocolate in the beer-sauce.
2. Since I omitted the syrup, I increased the brown sugar by 2 tbsp (up to 140 g); and added 1/2 cup milk to the yogurt (taking the total volume up to about 400 ml, or 14 oz; approx 2 cups).
After whisking in the flour, the batter looked very wet, with lots of bubbles, and I wasn’t sure if it would set. It makes for an excellent, moist cake. I thought the whisking was a bit dubious at first, but it really is key. Do no overmix. Omitting the syrup might make for a less sweet cake, but I found that I enjoyed this revelation; the icing really stands out. If you can find Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee Stout, I would highly recommend that (it was awesome in some tiramisu, and would lend it’s sweetness to the cake very well). Hope this helps!

HS: Happy it worked out Neeli!

This cake manages to be the most magnificent chocolate cake, Guinness cake AND bundt cake I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to make it!

This cake looks amazing! Moist and wonderful. I bet the beer adds great flavor.

Mouth waters. Must make.

anamaria, i am so with you. hope this helps!
i just took this cake out of the oven (my first bundt!) and turned it out after 10 minutes – it came out in one piece and looks beautiful. i couldn’t resist cutting a small slice and i have to say, it’s airy and delicious… kind of like spongecake. i think it’ll be much better once cooled though- thicker with more of the chocolate flavors coming through. one note – it took about 15-18 mins for the beer to simmer down to 1 cup so everyone should account for that when making the recipe.
thanks for posting another winner!

I made this cake tonight. Words can’t even begin to describe how scrumptious it was. So moist and flavorful. Yumm, yumm, yumm!!! I used the chocolate stout beer (it really does taste like chocolate). I followed the recipe exactly and added some mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe!

HS: You know, every time I bake this cake I consider adding a good dose of chocolate chunks – I can imagine it’s +++

This cake came out great even though I was a little imprecise on the measurements. I also used homemade 2% yogurt. Love the stout and chocolate combination!

Heidi, this cake is amazing! I made it with Deschutes Obsidian Stout (’cause I’m an Oregonian!) and dusted the pan with cocoa instead of flour. I love the deep dark brown color of the cake. It’s so moist and malty-tasting. I let it cool 10 minutes before easing it out of the pan (no problems).
Last weekend we cooked brunch for friends using Super Natural Every Day and it was a hit. And they didn’t think they liked natural healthy cooking–ha! Thanks so much for the terrific recipes!
HS: It’s hard to beat brunch with friends! And I think the Obsidian was a brilliant call. 🙂

Your photos are always beautiful, making me wish I traveled more. But even though I can’t travel right now, I can enjoy some of the beautiful food you make.
This cake is calling for me to bake it.

I made this last night for my dinner party tonight!! I cannot wait to serve it up! I had fun making it and posted about it on my blog, too. Thanks for sharing the best recipes!

HS: Hope your party was fun Liana, glad to be a small part of it.

i just got my first bundt pan recently. well, actually my second – my first one as an adult that’s not my mom’s. can’t wait to try this!

Hi Heidi!
You have gotten me into Bundt cakes and i just cant stop! Yahoo! A new one!
Could you please tell me where you got your pan from? I see it in other bundt postings like the lemony olive oil banana bread post. Is it new or vintage? I am on the hunt for a pan for home ( i usually do my baking at work, i am a chef at a small restaurant in toronto)
for interest’s sake i have tried the oatmeal stout cake from Regan Daley’s book in a bundt pan and it was fabulous. id love to see you do a spin on it!
thanks!

HS: It’s vintage Amy – I saw it in an antique shop and for some reason, didn’t buy it – I think it was quite expensive $200+?. But I went back to that same shop a year+ later, and it was still there. I took that as a sign, and brought it home with me. There are no marks on it – if I can ever figure out who made it, I will give everyone the heads up. It has become one of my all-time favorite pans to bake in. xo

Wow. You have my attention. This looks fabulous.

I made it! Had to make a special trip or the stout, but there was aplenty for st pats day!
Oh HS, you are brilliant with ingenuity and creative recipes! Thanks!! My version of your bundt was tres delicious! I used a ring tin and six additional patty cakes! So good! It’s going to go to wrk with e everyday this week! And … I’ll share it!

Wow, amazingly beautiful cake! I like bringing some snack and eating while driving. This must be perfect one:-)

I noticed Trader Joe’s sells Chocolate Stout. I will have to get some and try this cake. It looks delicious.

I can’t get Maple Syrup where I live. Any suggestions for a substitute? Thanks.

OK, it’s done, gorgeous, delicious and moist. Mine turned out a little darker than yours i think and with a slightly looser crumb. I used an Espresso Stout from Laurelhurst Brewing in Portland and used half stout and half heavy cream for the icing. Perfect! Thank you Heidi. A total keeper. Happy St. Paddy’s day.

HS: So happy to see you K – I like the icing made w/ beer too – but I’ve been doing beer + buttermilk.

Thank you for responding, Heidi! I made this cake tonight with 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, which I mixed in with the yogurt egg mixture, instead of butter and it turned out delightful. Next time I might add thick pieces of dark chocolate into the batter, too 🙂 This is a great recipe, thank you!

Love the look of this! I’m all for an easy, no-fuss chocolate cake. Can’t wait to hear/see more on the Portland jaunt ;-).

HS: Come down for a city visit Lia! xo

OMG!!! I have to try this recipe!

Oh, dear… I have some chocolate stout in my refrigerator and I’ve been searching for a good baking use for it all week. My brownies were mildly successful, but left me wanting more… I have just found my more, thanks! And love those Ak-mak!

Looks wonderful, Heidi! I think this would be the perfect thing to take on a camping trip to Big Sur next month!

Always on the lookout for a nice new cake recipe. The buttermilk icing sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing Heidi!

HS: I think you’d like it Sneh 🙂

I really enjoy your food blog! Cake looks so good!

Making this right now. It’s going to be amazing, I can tell. Be careful when you simmer the stout though. Mine boiled/foamed over like crazy since i had the heat turned up pretty high. Now it’s simmering along nicely but I gave myself a nice clean up job!

Heidi, this sounds, and looks amazing. Humble, pretty, and I can already taste its sweetness. Thank you for the recipe!

looks amazing, as do the pics of your trip into the redwoods, nasty weather and all. the icing is really what’s pushing my over the edge. well, that and the beer, even if you can’t taste it :).

Just made this with what I had on hand, substituted Anchor Steam Beer for the stout/porter, honey instead of maple syrup, and straus non-fat plain yogurt for the plain whole yogurt, turned out awesome! Very moist and not too sweet. Perfect dessert to bring to girl’s night out tonight, thanks heidi!

Hi, I just made this recipe, except subbed hard apple cider for the stout, sorry it was all I had. It was exceptionally yummy. Very dark, very rich, and not nearly as dense as I seemed to think it would be. It reminded me very much of the consistency and moist quality of a gingerbread, minus the spicy notes. I didn’t so much taste the alcohol, but it certainly was a different flavor than the normal chocolate cake! Much more grown up and complex. I thought it was going to overflow my bundt pan since I haven’t made much in it before, so kept back a little batter, but it would have fit just perfectly if I had been braver. The icing is extremely rich and chocolatey, and just the right accompaniment. Yum! Does that help, AnaMaria?

Gotta love some beer in that cake 🙂

Delicious looking cake! I loved to see yoghurt in the ingredients, look forward to trying, thanks for the recipe!

Lovely cake & redwood trees! I may make this cake for my St. Patty’s day dinner party tomorrow night:) Maybe I’ll use Guinness for the beer?! Happy & safe travels!

The combination of chocolate and beer is perfect for St. Patty’s day! And I think the amount of butter here, 1 stick, is just right.

My husband’s birthday is tomorrow and I loved the addition of beer for a St. Paddy’s day birthday. I just pulled it out of the oven and will enjoy with friends tomorrow!

This is wonderful, I have chocolate and coffee flavored porters in the fridge since Christmas, no one liked them but everyone loves chocolate cake!!! woo hoo! thanks

That looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this one.

Stout is my favorite beer and I have never baked with it. I love the idea of mixing dark full-bodied beer with rich chocolate. Your bundt cake looks delightful – even more so with a big strong man carrying a hearty slice of it 🙂

We have to make this for our next dinner party. The photo of the trees are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Heidi,
Printed this and will try with carob powder and let you know. Can’t give up a dark chocolate-like cake, but so it goes…I’m sensitive to caffeine… love that it travels well.

HS: Would love to know how it turns out.

finally a blog where you can find the ingredients also in grams! Beautiful blog 🙂

I was just thinking that a delicious cake would be nice to have around the house for the weekend. Perfect timing!

Oh my, this is gorgeous and delicious and seems pretty sturdy. We’ll have to try it with some of this season’s maple syrup.

I love a sturdy cake like this, road-hardy and ready to travel. The pic of the trees is so beautiful!

Hello Heidi,
I am more in love with the write-up than with the pictures and the recipe (although I did put this in my to-do box). You have a great writing style.

Instead of using butter and flour on the pan and getting the white glazy look on the outside of the cake, use butter and some of the natural cocoa. It doesn’t leave the white film on the cake and more chocolate can only improve the cake!

HS: Brilliant tip Tammy. I sort of like the dusty look, maybe I’ll try a blend?

Could I sub olive oil for the butter, like in the banana olive oil cake you posted previously? I am obsessed with that cake!

HS: I haven’t tested it with this particular cake Laura, but I suspect it could work. Let me know if you try it.

This recipe sounds and looks so good. Your photo of the trees is beautiful. I wanted to say thank you for the favorites list last week. It sent me to interesting places once again.

I really like this; it’s got a lot of things I like in it and the result looks awesome. How much does the maple syrup come through? Could another sugar be substituted realistically without taking away from the flavor too much?

Beautiful!

Dutched vs. Non-Dutched: found this explanation, think it clears things up a touch…http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/02/cocoa-powder-faq-dutch-process-v/

This post inspired me to make a new pinterest board called “picnic food”. Now picnic weather just needs to come so I can make this cake!

oh this is just beautiful! Definitely saving it and hope to make next time we have company!

Heidi, this looks incredible! I can’t wait to try it. I have never been so adventurous with cakes and I love all the ingredients you’re using here.
Thank you!

That buttermilk frosting is over the top. It looks gorgeous. As luck would have it, I’m a big fan of guinness. And it seems to me that there is an upcoming event that features the stuff … interesting …

I love the ingredients in this cake. I’m going to try chestnut & buckwheat i/o the wheat/all purpose because husband has tummy issues. I can’t wait to see how it goes. I hope to freeze as well because let’s face it, there are only so many good things one can make, that they then have to actually eat. Hope your day got better and thanks for posting nontheless.

also fyi I *love* that you post recipes with both american and metric. if you can find Belgian dark brown Candico sugar it is the best.

beer and cake! this is def on my list.

My list of things to do just got longer. We will be eating this befor the week-end is over.

Oh, what a wonderful looking cake! I’m going to have to try it soon. Maybe with a berry sauce when the first of the spring berries come out, yum.

This looks so delicious, I’m a big choc fan so a choc bundt cake seems pretty perfect.

Sounds delicious…. wish there was a non-alcohol version.
john

HS: John – try swapping in another flavorful, concentrated liquid if you like – I suspect strong coffee would be nice, or as mentioned, ginger juice….milk….

Wow, this looks awesome! The flavors look like they will go great together. I can’t wait to try it!

I love it when you post sweets!! Makes me feel better and you always do such a beautiful job capturing them.

Where do you get your parchment paper?

HS: I buy unbleached parchment paper by the roll at Whole Foods, but I also have a supply of waxed parchment baggies I brought back from Japan.

Heidi, thanks for this recipe. I absolutely love my Bundt tins and have been looking for a new chocolate cake recipe for them, since exhausting all of those in my bundt tin recipe book. I love Guiness, buttermilk, et al, but sorry don’t know what non-Dutched cocoa is – havent seen it on the shelves here in the UK – so hopefully good ol’regular cocoa will suffice. I print up and make many of your recipes, so thanks again.

i’ll take one cake and one batch of redwoods both, please, thank you very.
in exchange, sending calm travel thoughts for the balance of the trip!

HS: Thanks Molly 🙂

Gorgeous photos of a chocolate bundt cake!

Oh no… This is serious business. Have to make this!

Gorgeous! I’ve been craving cake–chocolate cake in particular–but, like you, I’m currently fighting my way through the snow. I guess my date with bundt cake will have to wait until early April.

I always make a chocolate stout cake at this time of year because I work in a bakery and that’s what we do for St. Patrick’s Day BUT, stout and porter, especially the chocolate or espresso stouts do so enhance chocolate that I personally make use stout just as often as I use espresso in my chocolate desserts. ALSO – since you mentioned having buttermilk on hand (one of my best friends), I like it in cake batter and use it the way you use the yogurt in this one. I’d never think of using whole wheat flour in a dessert, but I’ll give it a try!

On the issue of substituting the stout/porter – do you think coffee would make an okay substitution? I’m sure it would alter the flavor, but hopefully not too drastically and maybe in a nice mocha-type of way.

Never had a chocolate bundt cake that looked so amazing.
I also really like the way you wrapped it in parchment paper, and carried around with you.
Gonna have to try to make this really soon!

Yum! I’m so glad I literally just bought a bundt pan. I’ll have to break it in with this tasty cake!

This cake looks amazing – the addition of beer sounds really interesting and tasty.
I love the idea of a chocolate buttermilk icing as well – yum!

If I don’t make this soon, I might end up doing something drastic, like licking those fabulous pictures of this cake on my comp screen. But I came to the comments section to see if there is a substitute for stout beer or chocolate porter, whatever that is, which is unfortunately unavailable here.

OK Final this is my birthday cake!!!
OH God!!! I love chocolate cake… and this deliciousness is calling me…
Beautiful, I feel like reaching inside the monitor and taking a slice for me…

yumm, wish i had some maple syrup right about now… i never get tired of trying new chocolate recipes, this will go on my to bake list for sure.

The cake is just…gorgeous. I grew up in a Bundt cake making family…there was always a bundt for most every occasion.
Yours is picture perfect.

I love the idea of a travel cake. I try to take the it’s-never-the-wrong-time-to-bake-a-cake approach, myself.

yummm..this bundt cake looks so dense and moist, which is my favorite type of cake. i love the chocolate frosting on top. it gives a very rustic feel to it.

It’s 12:21 am. I’m ready for bed…..but I want to make this cake NOW.
Help.
🙂

Mmm mmm mmm! Can’t wait to try this one out!

wow!!!!!! It looks so yummy! I have to try this!

This cake looks really delicious! Great pictures!

I am loving the ingredients in this cake, and it looks great. Can’t wait to try it!

This looks incredible! Adding it to my “To Make” list 🙂

those who are substituting the beer, let us know how it goes! i wonder if the fizz from the beer helps the cake to rise – perhaps try it with ginger beer?

I wonder if this cake would still be as amazing if you substituted out the alcohol? And what would you substitute it with? I’m thinking prune or blackberry juice, but thoughts to play around with would be welcome. Thanks for your no-holds-barred dedication to your lovely blog and its readers.

oh man, this looks so perfect. hope you get some rest, sounds like a long day. you’re a champ for posting regardless. can’t wait to try. xo

That is a good looking cake.
Is there a reason why you specified using non-dutched cocoa? I am thinking of making this cake and I only have dutch cocoa at home.

What a beautiful cake!! I might make it for my birthday next Monday. Possibly use it as a bottom layer for a mousse cake.
By the way, you take beautiful pictures.