Ring in St. Patty's with a stout cake

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Looking for a fun recipe to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Spartan Stores, Amy Sherman, shares her traditional stout cake recipe that will have you feeling Irish on March 17.

Stout Cake Ingredients:

1 cup stout beer
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with pan spray. Cut out two parchment rounds to fit the pans. Lay them in the pans, spray again and then dust with flour.

In a saucepan, bring the stout and butter to a simmer.  Add the cocoa powder and stir until the mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, soda and salt.  In another bowl, using an electric mixer if you want, mix the eggs and the sour cream. Stir in the stout mixture and blend well. Stir in the flour mixture and blend until completely combined. Don't over mix the batter, you are mixing them totally together, but then that's it.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.  Put about 3/4 the mix in one pan, and 1/4 the mix in the other.  You will be cutting one cake in half, and leaving the other cake whole, to get a total of three layers.  Or if you happen to have three 9 inch cake pans, you can prepare all three and then divide the batter equally.  Place the cakes in the oven.  The thin cake will be done in about 20 minutes.  The thicker one will take about 35 minutes.  Either way, when they spring back in the middle, they are done. Let cool and then cut the thick cake in half.

Stout Icing Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 ounces unsalted butter, diced
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup stout beer

Instructions:
Heat the cream to a simmer in a saucepan set over medium heat. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Whisk to combine them.  Add the sugar and whisk well.  Stir in the sour cream and the beer. Let the icing sit until it is spreadable.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate, top with about 2/3 cup icing. Top with second cake layer, more icing, then the third layer. Spread a thin crumb coat over the top and let sit until firm. Spread the remaining icing over the cake.