Sam's Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Cake

My wonderful nephew Sam just graduated from high school and I couldn't resist creating a special cake for his celebration. Coffee flavored desserts are his favorite so I made him an ice cream cake with two layers of moist Guinness chocolate cake, a center of coffee ice cream and a topping of espresso flavored whipped cream. It was a big hit and I know it's something I will make again and again and always think of Sam when I do.

Here's the recipe:

Sam's Chocolate Coffee Ice Cream Cake
(a celebration cake created for and named after the best nephew in the world)

Cake:
1 cup Guinness
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup sour cream ( or substitute plain yogurt)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

A prepared cake pan. Line the bottom and the sides with greased parchment.

Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan, add the butter in slices and heat until the butter is melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the beer mixture and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Divide the cake batter among the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until done. Leave the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack. Let the cakes cool completely before assembling.

The cakes after baking. Let them cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans.

To Assemble:
1 quart premium coffee ice cream, left at room temperature for 10 to 15  minutes to soften
2 pints whipping cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons espresso powder
chocolate covered espresso beans

Line an 8-inch cake pan that is at least 4-inches deep with plastic wrap.

Drop in one of the Guinness chocolate cake layers.

Top the cake with the quart of softened coffee ice cream.

Use a spreader to evenly distribute the ice cream and press it down. You have to work fast because you don't want the ice cream to melt.

Add the second layer of cake.

Wrap the cake well with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to set for at least 4 hours.

After the cake has set in the freezer, put the whipping cream, sugar and espresso in a mixing bowl and whip it until it holds a stiff peak.

Unwrap the frozen cake remove it from the cake pan. Place it on a serving platter that will be able to fit back into the freezer.

Spread the whipped cream around the sides of the cake.

Put the remaining whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe a border around the top of the cake.

Inside the border, pipe dollops around the cake and top each of them with a chocolate covered espresso bean.

Place the cake back into the freezer for at least 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Guinness Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Filling

What's better than a Guinness Chocolate Cake? Two Guinness Chocolate Cakes with Peanut Butter Filling!

Hands down, my most requested cake is Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Filling and Chocolate Buttercream but sometimes it's fun to experiment and mix things up a bit. So staying with the peanut butter and chocolate theme I instead made two Guinness Chocolate Cakes and topped each of them with Peanut Butter Filling and Cream Cheese Icing.

I just thought the smooth lightly sweet icing would go really well with the chunky peanut butter filling. And, there really is no cake better than super moist Guinness chocolate.

When it came to decorating, I kept the sides of the cakes bare since I like the look of the bright white cream cheese icing against the dark chocolate brown cake. For a little extra pizazz I piped borders around the top, middle and base of the cake. The border also hides the not so pretty edges of where the peanut butter filling and icing meet.

I'm serving this cake tomorrow at the Wednesday Community Meal in recognition of our volunteers who have November birthdays and I hope it's a hit.

Here's how I made it:

Guinness Chocolate Cake
(makes two 9-inch cakes)

2 cup Guinness
2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups sour cream
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and line two 9-inch springform pans.

Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan, add the butter in slices and heat until the butter is melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the beer mixture and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Divide the cake batter among the two greased and lined pans and bake the cakes for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave them to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack before releasing them from the pan.

Once the cakes are cool, make the filling and cream cheese icing.

Peanut Butter Filling:
1 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, whip peanut butter and butter together. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Finally add milk and beat just until the filling comes together and is spreadable. Don't over beat.

Cream Cheese Topping
2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and whip again. Add the cream and whip again until it's light and spreadable.

To Assemble:

Place one of the cakes on a platter and top with half of the filling.

Spread the filling evenly over the cake being careful not to get too close to the sides.

Add a little more than a third of the icing to the top of the filling and spread it evenly, trying your best to keep it neat and the layers separate.

Top the first cake with the second cake and repeat, adding filling and cream cheese icing to the top.

Put the remaining icing into a pastry bag fitted with the tip of your choice and pipe a border around the top of the cake.

Also add a border around the middle of the cake. This hides the messy edge of where the filling meets the icing.

Finally, add a third border to the base of the cake. Keep the cake chilled until you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Guinness Chocolate Cake

A Guinness Chocolate Cake sitting in a bakery box and ready to give.

A Guinness Chocolate Cake is the cake I turn to when I want to make something special but also no fuss.

The cake is moist, rich and quick to make. Because it's a one-layer cake, frosting it couldn't be easier. Just spread on a batch of cream cheese icing so that it resembles the froth on top of a pint of Guinness and it's done.

The recipe is from Nigella Lawson's cookbook "Feast" and it also makes great cupcakes.

Chocolate Guinness Cake
1 cup Guinness
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and line a 9-inch springform pan.

Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan, add the butter in slices and heat until the butter is melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and pour into the beer mixture and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz. cream cheese
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sift over the powdered sugar and beat them both together. Add the cream and beat again until it's a spreadable consistency. Ice just the top of the cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.