Man am I lame at keeping up with this! I wish I had better excuses since I made this cake oh, over a month ago…I don’t. Work is insanely busy right now. But very very cool and fun. I’ll tell ya’ll more when you can go see what Doug and I are working on in theatres soon!

Birthday cakes with Doug have been a long standing joke between us since we’ve been together. Our first year together, I couldn’t pipe happy birthday on a cake to save my life, let alone roses, which I attempted very poorly (and with lefty rose tips that this lefty can’t use and a rose nail. Yuck on both accounts!) I could bake him a gourmet cake any other time of the year, but for Doug’s birthday I know he has a birthday cake voodoo doll he starts messing with cause year after year, something goes wrong. Year one, we had terrible rusty gross college pans and for some reason, the cooked filling made in them made the cake taste strongly of chocolate and…wintergreen. Yuck! There was botched cheesecakes with strawberry mint swirl and layered cakes that I forgot to put the gelatin into the mousse layers and collapsed blobiness ensued. Every year, he takes it like a champ: smiles, thanks me and asks sweetlyfor another slice. What a guy

So much to our delight I decided no more botched cake for him and I was going ot do everything in my power to make a successful cake. And boy did I! He watched eagerly as I made it, convinced I was going to drop it on the floor or have one of our cats mess with it or something equally bizarre. Nothing! It was perfect. It might have weighed about  as much as a small child but it was a success! And boy was it was gooood! Rich, crazy chocolaty and messy. And boy do I mean chocolaty. This cake is hardcore. Hence the name Chocolate Guinness Death Cake. Not an exaggeration. I am not as big a chocolate eater as Doug but even he looked over at me after fighting through a thin slice like he was going to fall over. You’ve been warned. Proceed with caution.

Its a 6 layer  adaptation of Nigella’s Guinness chocolate cake (since Doug is a Guinness nut) filled with alternating layers of triple chocolate mousse and (my attempt to keep it beer-y) a malted mousse made with a ton of malted milk powder. Surprisingly addictive flavored! The whole thing was doused in ganache. The triple chocolate mousse makes my teeth hurt thinking out it- I use a whole bag of assorted Lindt Lindor truffles. Yowza rich.  The only casualty in this year’s cake was our dog, Roxy. She was standing below the counter as I missed while pouring the ganache and took a blob of chocolate to the head!

I wish I had better pictures of this guy. It was almost too tall to fit in my cake carrier and photographed like a black hole. That ganache is tricky stuff to photograph!

Chocolate Guinness Death Cake

adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Guinness Chocolate cake

• 2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

• 4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups whole fat chocolate milk (check the ingredients to make sure it’s not fat free)
• 4 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line with parchment paper. Butter paper. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

Ganache

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Put everything in a heatproof bowl and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each til smooth and melted.

Quick Triple Chocolate Mousse

• 1 bag of assorted Lindt Lindor Truffles (they should be wrapped blue, red and white I believe)
• 8oz good quality dark chocolate chopped
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 box chocolate instant pudding

In a heatproof bowl, add chocolates and  1/2 cup of cream. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each. Be sure to break up the truffles as they melt. When its completely melted, let cool to just above room temperature, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, whip the remaining 1 cup of cream with the box of pudding. While its whipping, slowly pour the chocolate into the mixture. Whip to desired consistency and chill til ready to use.

Quick Malted Mousse

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 box instant french vanilla pudding
• 1/2 a cup malted milk powder (next to chocolate syrup/powder in the grocery store)
• a splash extra of cream or milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl, mix together the malted milk powder with a splash of cream or milk.  Stir til it is all incorporated. It should be roughly the consistency of honey. Whip the remaining cream and pudding mix with the malted milk. Add vanilla while mixing. Whip to desired consistency and chill til ready to use.

To assemble:

• Torte the 3 cake layers. You should have 6 layers.

• Place bottom layer on serving plate and spread 1/ 3 of the chocolate mousse. Add another layer and spread with half the malted mousse. Repeat with remaining layers.

• When assembled, using a knife or offset spatula, spread a thin layer of melted ganache over entire cake. Its going to be a ganache crumb coat basically. It may be difficult to apply but should set as you spread it over the cake.

• Make sure your ganache is warm enough to flow easily. If not, pop it in the microwave for 10 second bursts til its smooth and free flowing yet thick. When its ready, place cake over something you don’t mind getting messy or a cookie sheet to catch the runoff chocolate.

• Slowly begin pouring ganache in the center of the cake. As you go, use your other hand to spread it evenly towards the edge with an offset spatula. Keep pouring til the cake is covered but leaving a 1/2- 1 cup of ganache leftover (If you want to pipe decorations. If not, dump it all on!) Use the offset spatula to smooth bare spots over with chocolate. If desired, after its covered you can do a swooshy back and forth motion up and down sections of the sides to get the look I did.

• If piping designs, pour remaining ganache into your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip til its significantly lighter and fluffier. Fill a piping bag fitted with a tip and pipe away.

Keep chilled til ready to eat. Eat with a blanket so you can take a nap after.