Chocolate Bundt Cake

 I came across a chocolate bundt cake recipe from 101cookbooks.com. The author talked about how well the cake seemed to hold up during some traveling, a feature that I love to discover about foods. If it travels well, then the chances of me tucking into my backpack and going for a stroll are very good. I love having homemade treats to share with a friend as we sit on a park bench and watch the seagulls.Or as we sit atop a boulder, legs dangling below, and enjoy a sunset. This cake, once completely cooled, frosting set, and cut into thick wedges does travel pretty well. It certainly wouldn't withstand a rigorous back country backpacking trip, but a day hike or a road trip would welcome this cake!

 I had a thick, chocolatey, spiced stout in my fridge which aided in my a hankering for this chocolate cake.
The cake calls for simmering stout or porter into a slightly thicker and reduced syrup. You then blend the stout with a hefty amount of cocoa and a not so hefty amount of butter which creates a fantastic, chocolatey cream to fold into the cake batter. The cake is sweetened with a dark brown sugar, which yields the highest percent of molasses, and honey and/or maple syrup. You could skip the brown sugar and increase the honey or maple syrup if you'd prefer. The cake also uses a blend of whole wheat and all- purpose flour, which I really like. You could use one or the other flours in full quantity as well.


Chocolate Bundt Cake:


2 cups porter or stout
8 Tbl butter, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain whole yogurt
3/4 cup maple syrup or honey


Chocolate Buttermilk Icing:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
2 Tbl buttermilk


Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C, with a rack in the center of the oven.

Butter and flour (generously) an 11 or 12 cup capacity bundt pan (or equivalent). You can bake this in other cake pans, just be mindful to avoid filling the pan(s) more than 2/3- 3/4 full. Adjust the baking times as well- baking until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, and the center tests clean when you insert a knife.

In a saucepan simmer the beer down to 1 cup. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Stir in the cocoa powder, mixing until smooth, then set aside to cool, stirring occasionally to let off heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugars, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt, and maple syrup or honey. Whisk well, until nicely blended and uniform in appearance. Gradually add the (cooled) stout mixture, stirring all the while. Stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture, folding until just blended, using as few strokes as possible.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes if using the bundt pan, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You really don't want to over bake this cake- err on the slightly moist side if anything. Remove from the oven, and turn out onto a cooling rack after several minutes.

In the meantime, make the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, cocoa, and buttermilk. Really go at it for at least a minute. The icing should end up smooth and creamy looking, adjust with a touch of powdered sugar or a few drops of buttermilk if you want to tweak the consistency at all. When the cake is completely cool, run the icing around the top with an offset spatula and let set. I actually frosted when the cake was still warm, so the icing oozed down the sides of the cake a bit. I preferred this over just a layer of frosting over the top, but either way is great!

Serve sprinkled with a bit of flaky sea salt. Belly up!!