Ginger Chocolate Stout Cake with Sweetened Sour Cream

I may be a little behind schedule, but I wasn't lying when I said I had some March-appropriate recipes to post.  This recipe might also be a good way for you to use up the leftover amounts of beer in the bottoms of all the cans of Guinness that you woke up (face down, no less, right?) surrounded by the morning after your St. Patrick's Day celebrations. I don't think you'd find this tip on Martha Stewart's site, but me, I like to think outside of the box.

I'm kidding, of course. Please buy fresh beer! 

No, you didn't read that wrong - there is beer in this dessert! I know, I know...Guinness is an acquired taste for most people. However, if it's not normally something you would drink, don't let that stop you from making it something that you would eat. Stouts, which are the darkest of dark ales, are wonderfully rich and become almost chocolaty when added to cakes and other desserts. When you  bite into this cake, it does not taste like someone accidentally spilled beer into the dessert pan, but rather, you'll wonder why the person who served it to you couldn't bother to cut you a bigger piece.
Ginger Chocolate Stout Cake with Sweetened Sour Cream

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup maple syrup or molasses

1-1/4 cups stout (such as Guinness)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

Sweetened Sour Cream

1 cup low-fat sour cream

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1.) To make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 11 x 9" baking pan with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

2.) Place 1 cup maple syrup (or molasses) in a 4-cup measuring cup (I used a small bowl). Bring stout to a boil, and pour into maple syrup. 

3.) Beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer. Beat in eggs. Alternate adding stout and flour mixtures to batter. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan.

4.) To make sweetened sour cream: whisk together sour cream and brown sugar until sugar dissolves.