Dominion Oak Barrel Stout Chocolate Cake

It should come as no surprise that my first foray into the world of baking was inspired by the world of beer.  I recently tapped a keg of Dominion Oak Barrel Stout at home here and have been enjoying it for the past couple weeks.  After you become well acquainted with a keg of beer you have to find ways to spice up your relationship.  With the Stout I started pouring some black and tans with a lager.  Then I moved to a bruised apple with some Woodchuck.  Then I started googling and came across a recipe for a Chocolate Stout Cake on epicurious.  (Recipe Here)  The feedback was promising.  Web foodies seemed to really enjoy this cake so I suggested it to my lovely girlfriend, and super baker, Lexi, and she was intrigued and insisted we make it happen.

We basically just halved the recipe, skimped the sugar by a half cup (who wants it that sweet?  jeez), used dark cocoa powder (leftover from the Trappist homebrew awhile back), and generously poured a heaping cup of Stout into the saucepan.  Thirty-five minutes later we were kickin back and enjoying our fruits.  (With draft stouts to compliment of course).

Resounding success.  Crack a beer and lick your screen below.  (All photo credits to Lexi)

35 minutes later:

Chocolately, creamy, goodness:

Ice cream icing job:

First slice of chocolately stoutnicity:

Magazine centerfold/Cake Porn:

There's a lot of cake (and beer) left to enjoy....after that, the stout is headed for a big batch of Eddie's special chili!

Cheers!