Chocolate Cherry Beer Cake

Photo: Ruth Jackson

Ingredients

185 grams plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

75 grams unsalted butter

150 grams caster sugar

1 egg

45 grams g dark chocolate (at least 70%% cocoa solids), melted- I would increase this to

125 milliliters beer (or 160 ml if not using the buttermilk)

100 milliliters buttermilk or equivalent

30 milliliters cherry sauce or juice (or 60 ml if not using the buttermilk)

125 grams cherries (tinned, frozen or fresh), stones removed& halved

60 grams chopped walnuts

For the icing

60 grams butter

1/2 egg (keep the other half in case you decide the icing needs it or there's not enough of it)

70 grams dark chocolate (at leat 70%% cocoa solids) melted

100 grams icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice (add as needed)

Preparation

Heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a round cake tin, approximately 23cm in diameter, preferably spring board.

Sift the flour, salt and bicarb soda together.

In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and pale. Then add the egg and chocolate and mix well.

Collect up the beer, cherry juice, buttermilk (if using), and flour and place next to your bowl. Add a spoonful of flour, to the cake mix and mix well until combined. Then add a splash of beer, mixing well again. Then follow with another spoon of flour, and then with cherry juice - alternate between the flour and the liquids until they're all combined in the mixture.

Mix until smooth and then add the cherries and walnuts.

Pour the cake mix into the cake tin and bake in the middle of the oven for about 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack.

To make the icing combine the butter, sugar, melted chocolate, egg and milk until thick and smooth. Taste and add lemon juice if it's too sweet.

Smooth over the top of a completely cooled cake. Add some walnuts to the top if you like (or cherries, or whatever).

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About

I made this for my husband's birthday cake. It's delicious and quite simple to make. If you don't want to use buttermilk, it's not essential - I would just add more beer and more cherry juice.

You don't have to use stout (Guinness) - any beer is fine. The stout makes it more dark and damp and a larger would make it more light and fluffier.

You can double the ingredients if you want a sandwich cake - and bake in 2 tins or to just make a larger cake - but adjust the cooking times accordingly.