Guinness Stout Chocolate Cake

It's September and time to make a Birthday Cake! My friend, Lee, passed along this recipe from Epicurious for a not-too-sweet dark chocolate cake. The recipe makes a three layer 8" round cake. If you make all three layers, your cake will be about one foot tall! I opted for a two layer 8" round. My cake was very tall, and I had enough batter left for a "baby cake".

Baby cake

The original recipe comes from Barrington Brewery, Great Barrington, MA and is copied below from Epicurious (with my own process photos and notes in italics).

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups stout (such as Guinness) I used Overcast espresso stout from Oakshire Brewing in Eugene, Oregon. 

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

• 4 cups all purpose flour

• 4 cups sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 4 large eggs

• 1 1/3 cups sour cream

Icing

• 2 cups whipping cream

• 1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 d…