A few days ago, it was my husband’s 55th birthday. As every year, I try to prepare him an original cake, but I admit that after 28 years together, ideas start to run out until 3 days before his birthday, I had no idea what to prepare. Then, for a man, it’s always so difficult to find a suitable theme, especially for a birthday cake. By chance, I stumbled upon the recipe for this beer and chocolate cake on a German website (backina.de). Maybe it was because it was Oktoberfest time, or maybe someone was trying to send me a sign, but I found it, the beer and chocolate cake is perfect and very easy, but also very impressive. Imagine that guests took several minutes to realize it was a cake inside the crate. But now let’s move on to the details and preparation of your beer and chocolate cake.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 30
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Father's Day
Ingredients
The cake you will get is in terms of consistency, but also in taste, very similar to a brownie. It is soft, but at the same time compact and especially very chocolaty. Don’t be scared when you read the ingredients, with this dose you will get a cake 12 x 16 inches and almost 3 inches high. If you cut it into cubes, you will get up to 30 pieces, and I assure you that each piece will be enough for one person because the cake is “substantial,” so please follow my advice and make small pieces.
- 4 eggs
- 8.5 oz white sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.75 cups butter (melted)
- 10.5 oz brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 packet baking powder
- 2 cups dark beer
- 7 oz unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1.75 cups heavy cream (for the topping)
- 14 oz dark chocolate (for the topping)
- 20 mini marshmallow treats (mini schaumkuesse or dickmanns)
Tools
For the preparation of this cake, in addition to a stand mixer, you will need a beer crate for 11.2 oz bottles, which I recommend washing thoroughly, 20 new beer caps, or if you prefer, you can use used ones, perhaps of the same brand as the crate, I recommend washing them very well. Then you will need a cake carrier or a tray 12 x 16 inches. If you don’t have a cake carrier of these dimensions, you can make one as I did with a sturdy DinA4 cardboard, cover it with aluminum foil and then with plastic wrap.
Steps
Start preparing your beer and chocolate cake by mixing flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Separately, start beating the eggs and add the brown sugar and white sugar and the melted butter, alternating with the flour-cocoa mix. Finally, add the yogurt and the beer and beat everything for a few minutes until the mixture is completely homogeneous.
Now pour the batter into a 12 x 16 inches baking dish previously greased and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, cover with aluminum foil until fully cooked.
ATTENTION: given the quantity of the batter, the cake must be well cooked, so do the toothpick test after about 35 minutes and extend the cooking time if necessary. When the cake is cooked, let it cool well inside the pan and then turn it over onto the 12 x 16 inches cake carrier.
Now prepare the chocolate ganache, cut the 14 oz of chocolate into pieces. Separately, heat the cream, remove it from the stove, pour in the just-cut chocolate, and stir vigorously until you get a nice thick and homogeneous cream. At this point, your ganache is ready, gently pour it over the chocolate cake with a ladle and evenly, level it and let the ganache cool very well.
At this point, place the cake carrier inside the beer crate, position the 20 chicchirichì chocolates, as if they were the 20 beer bottles, and place a beer cap on each chicchirichì.
IN THE PHOTOS, you see that I placed the moor’s heads BEFORE putting them inside the crate, but I did it just to make you clearly understand the procedure and how the chocolates should be positioned. I assure you that it’s easier to do the final decoration inside the crate.
At this point, your beer and chocolate cake is ready. It’s simply delicious, it doesn’t need cream inside because it’s already so good. In the bottom photo, you see the slice-piece of the dimensions I recommend cutting about 2 x 2.5 inches. Of these dimensions, you will get up to 30 pieces.
I recommend buying 30 moor’s head chocolates so that each piece has one as a decoration.
If you love CHOCOLATE CAKES take a look HERE.
Saby advises…
Many of you have written to me that these chocolates are not easily found in Italy, if you want, you can order them on the German site with the big A, you will find them under the name “Mini Schaumkuesse or Dickmanns mini”
