celebrating year one: chocolate stout cake with buttercream frosting
In 2006, within a couple of weeks after Oliver was born, I started a blog. It was mostly a blog about my children and our lives. I was bored on maternity leave – did I really just say that? – and I wanted to write, to be productive in some measurable way. In the beginning, I wrote it mostly for me, for the act of writing. After a couple of years, I wrote it more for my family and a handful of friends who read it occasionally. I read other blogs written by mothers – dooce and Finslippy and amalah and others – and I felt I just couldn’t do it as well as they did. My writing seemed inadequate and trivial. I couldn’t write about my kids and life as a parent as open and honestly and with humor the way they did.
I had lost my writing voice, and it wasn’t coming back.
Somewhere in that third year of that blog, I wrote a post about a meal we had eaten on vacation. And then I wrote more posts about food – about recipes I’d made, or struggles I had with getting my kids to eat, or a cookbook I was reading. I started reading more food blogs, more cookbooks, more food literature. Deb’s smitten kitchen became a daily must-read, and before I knew it, I had 20 or so food blogs I read regularly. I devoured Michael Ruhlman’s Chef series (The Soul of a Chef
Something was beginning to click.
And finally, on February 20, 2010, with a building sense of excitement inside, I created the merry gourmet.
My life has been permanently changed for the better as a result of this writing this blog. I’ve challenged myself to do things in the kitchen I had never previously done. I learned to poach an egg, make savory gougères, and I got over my fear of making homemade gnocchi. I finally made some heirloom family recipes and I learned to make pie crust. I’ve become comfortable in my kitchen, and I’m no longer afraid to deviate from recipes to make a dish my own.
Over the past year, I’ve connected with so many others who share this passion for food with me. The food blog community is exactly that — a warm, welcoming, and vibrant community. A highlight of the year was attending two food conferences and finally meeting some of the incredibly talented food bloggers, writers, and photographers that I’ve admired. And, now, I’m so grateful to be able to call so many of them friends. Very dear friends.
To celebrate this one year anniversary of the merry gourmet, I set out to challenge myself again, this time with a three-layer chocolate cake. I’ve made sheet cakes before, but layer cakes are a different beast. I have always found them intimidating and the process daunting. But this is one reason I write the merry gourmet – to break out of my comfort zone and learn to be a better cook. To try things I’ve never done before, like make homemade buttercream frosting and use a pastry bag to pipe decorations around the frosted cake.
And I did it.
Thank you so much for being there with me this first year, for sticking with me through those painfully amateur first posts and supporting me along the way. Talking with you – through the posts themselves, or through the comments, or through the magic that is Twitter – has turned into one of the best parts of this blog for me. You have really made this blog what it is today, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Yield: Serves 12-14
Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Malt Buttercream Frosting
This is not a chocolate cake for wimps. If you are a chocoholic, this is the cake for you. This recipe is a compilation of two recipes. I paired this chocolate stout cake from Bon Appétit (September 2002) with Dorie Greenspan's frosting recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Ingredients:
Ingredients for Cake
2 cups stout
2 cups (4 sticks; 16 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process, if you have it)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cup sour cream
Ingredients for Frosting
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup malted milk powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
Directions:
Preparation of Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 3 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch high sides. Line each with a circle of parchment paper and butter the paper. In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring stout and butter to a simmer. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together to blend. Using an electric mixer or stand 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 low speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared cake pans.
Bake cakes until tester or toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack and cool for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.
Preparation of Frosting
Melt chocolate with half of the light brown sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (such as a double boiler). Remove from heat.
Whisk the malted milk powder and cocoa together in a small bowl; pour over 3 tablespoons of boiling water and whisk until smooth. Whisking the melted chocolate gently, gradually pour in the hot malted milk-cocoa powder mixture and stir to blend. It will be dark and glossy. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining brown sugar and beat for 2 to 3 minutes more, until well-blended. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract, then reduce speed to low. Scrape in the chocolate mixture and mix until smooth. On low speed, gradually add in the confectioner's sugar. When all of the sugar is in, increase mixer speed to medium and beat for another 2 minutes. Lower speed of mixer and add remaining tablespoon of boiling water, then increase the speed and give the frosting another quick spin. If the frosting doesn't hold its shape, beat it just a little more.
To Assemble the Cake
To frost cakes, place one cake layer (top side up) on a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Frost the top of that layer, then place the second layer (top side down) on top. Frost the second layer. Add the third layer, and frost the top and sides of the cake, smoothing the buttercream frosting with an offset spatula.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour to set the frosting. Bring to room temperature prior to serving.
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Mwaaaah! Happy Blogaversary, MJ!
Oh, yeah – bookmarked this deeeevine looking cake! xox
Thank you so much, Reneé! I’m so glad to have met you in Seattle last year.
Happy blog birthday to you! I find it fascinating to read how and why other people started their blogs and how they’ve evolved over time. Your blog is really well done and I always enjoy coming over to read and see what you’ve been whipping up in your kitchen. Your cake looks devine. A big glass of cold milk and I’d be in heaven! Congrats on all your blogging success and wishing you many, many more years of blog happiness
Renee – Thank you! Yes, a big glass of cold milk is definitely called for with this cake. It’s how I enjoyed my slice (or three). 🙂
Happy 1st Birthday to The Merry Gourmet! I am so happy to have found your blog and met you! It’s been wonderful meeting new friends and sharing our love of food together through our blogs. What a beautiful cake–it was the perfect thing for you to make to celebrate.
Thank you so much, Flavia!
Your blog is one of my favourites! Happy blog Birthday. Cake is gorgeous!
Aw, I’m so happy about that! Thank you, Jayne.
Thats almost my story 🙂 I was trying to write for myself and then few friends. More I explored food blogs, I was intrigued and something down the line stuck now I love it 🙂 I recently had finished my first year and life certainly has changed! Happy anniversary…. you deserve the fabulous cake!
Congratulations to you on your first year!
Congratulations MJ; it seems that cooking and blogging about it were a perfect marriage for you and that first year anniversary shows a true commitment that we’ve enjoyed along with you.
I’ve never made a stout cake but I’ve heard it’s wonderful with chocolate. But a malted chocolate buttercream frosting? I’m thinking all I really need are some graham crackers!
Barb – thank you so much! Yes, I’m with you on the frosting. I could have (and may have) eaten it directly from the bowl.
Happy Birthday to you! What a gorgeous celebration cake!
Thank you, Georgie!
Congratulations to you, MJ!
What a year it’s been for you! We love you and your blog!
Keep cooking, keep baking, keep writing.
xo
Thank you so much, Gail. I’m SO looking forward to finally meeting you in person next month. Can hardly wait!
Happy Blogiversary!!! Very happy for you…the cake looks so good! May you have many more & can’t wait to meet you in April. 🙂
Thanks, Julie. I’m really looking forward to meeting you in April!
Congrats MJ! Thank you for persevering and for giving us the Merry Gourmet. You have been one of the biggest highlights for me on Twitter, always so kind and generous which led me to your blog:)
Great job on the layered cake, I too would love to do one, but have always felt it would end up falling over or something! Look forward to sharing a slice of something delicious over tea one of these days!
Ethan, you know how to make a girl blush. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Congrats on one year and to many more!
Thanks Gwen! It was lovely meeting you in Birmingham. I hope we get to chat more in Atlanta in May!
Happy Birthday to the Merry Gourmet! I am approaching one year as well with mine. Blogging has been a wonderful addition to my life and I am enjoying yours too! Your cake looks wonderful. I’ve never made a cake with stout, I will have to try this, it sounds just amazing.
Thank you so much, Miss! 🙂
Sounds like it has been a great year, congrats on your blogiversary!!
Thank you so much, Jenn!
Congrats to you MJ – I’ve so enjoyed coming here to this place and getting a glimpse of your life; thanks so much for sharing yourself with us – and the cake? uhm yeah, have wanted to make this one for a long, long time!
Debra – I’m so glad to have met you via Twitter this year. And, yes, you NEED to make this cake!
Oh MJ… Happy Blogoversary! I’m so thrilled that we met each other through Twitter because I just adore you and your blog.
And what better way is there to celebrate than a chocolate cake… with stout in it. I don’t think there is… except maybe if you drink a beer while you’re eating it. 🙂
Ha ha! You always have great ideas, Brian. 🙂
I really enjoyed reading about your journey as a blogger. It is interesting to learn that your initial writing about motherhood led you down a new path you hadn’t initially anticipated. I’ve started my own blog about the exotic world of chocolate. Friends, acquaintances, and family ask me how I’m going to make money doing this and where I see myself in the future. The truth is, I don’t know. I see different possibilities, but I really don’t know. I’m following my passion and the journey and I’m open and trusting that it will lead me somewhere wonderful and fruitful. I clicked on your post, because I was curious what a stout cake was. My first three-layer cake was a carrot cake. I was inspired from seeing a very tall cake at The Cheesecake Factory and wanted to make a cake that would “impress”. Your chocolate cake looks so tall and impressive. Glad to find you. I look forward to attending food shows and perhaps we will meet one day.
I’m so glad you wound up here — thank you so much for your comment! Best of luck to you in your journey. The journey for me has been amazing, and I wish for you the same!
Happy Blogirthday to you, MJ! (And this cake is spectacular.) It’s been a pleasure to connect with you this year, and I truly hope we can meet soon!!
Lynda – The feeling is completely mutual. Cheers!
Happy Blog Anniversary! This world of blogging is such a facinating one and along this journey you meet such wonderful people, such as yourself. I truly enjoy your blog. Your cake looks and sounds amazing!!! Great Job!!!
Thank you so much, Lisa. 🙂
Yay!! Congratulation son the biggest milestone. I was just writing my Anniversary post and saw urs! Isn’t it a great feeling to look back n see how long we have come in the past one year! You are doing such a fabulous job with your blog and it just doesn’t look like its just been one year. Here’s to you and your gorgeous blog which I’m sure will go places in the next many many years!
Congratulations again!
Thank you so much, Prerna. I feel the same about you and your blog. I could learn some things about food photography from you! 🙂
Congratulations on your first year! Love the blog!
Yay! I’m so happy!
Congrats MJ. I am honoured to call you my friend and can honestly say that your blog brightens my day – I get so excited when I see a new post 🙂 Here’s to many more years xox
Thank you so much, Mardi. I loved meeting you last August, and I’m so glad we’ll get to reconnect in March…and May!
Congratulations! I hope you are blogging for many years to come. And that cake – what a way to celebrate.
It’s quite the cake, right? When I crave chocolate, I go all out. 🙂
Happy Birthday to you and The Merry Gourmet! Here’s to many, many happy returns.
Thank you, Kare!
That cake looks totally delicious. It’s awesome that you wear so many hats in real life. Happy blogiversary!
Thank you very much!
Happy One Year Blog Anniversary!!! What a gorgeous way to celebrate.
Thanks so much, Sylvie.
oh happy blog birthday! and the cake is amazing 🙂
Thank you!
I found you through Twitter (what a testament to your last paragraph!). Can’t agree more about the great learning experiences and friends we are so fortunate to get through what may seem like a mundane (to some) business of food blogging.
I like how you didn’t pair this cake with the typical white buttercream frosting to channel the stout. Happy anniversary to another beautiful blog!
Thank you so much. I’m so glad that you found me — that we found each other. 🙂
Happy Blog Birthday to you!!!! I love that you kept going, and enjoy stopping by to see what’s going on in your world. Even better? I got to meet you in Birmingham. 🙂 Can’t wait to see you in May!
Chris – It was fantastic meeting you in Birmingham! I’m already wishing it were May…miss you!
Congrats!! I’m so glad that you decided to start blogging… I just adore your site. And, I had no idea you’d only been blogging for one year. Amazing! 🙂
Jen, that makes my night! I’m so glad to have met you this past year. It’s been wonderful sharing this world of food and food blogging with you.
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Happy Blogday Merry-Jennifer! I can’t believe it’s only been one year. Feels like I’ve “known” you for forever. Can’t wait to see you soon! xoxo
Jennie – the feeling is mutual. You’ve been a mentor to me in more ways than one. I’m so excited to see you next month!
Congrats on one year, how exciting! Now please hand over the entire cake!! 🙂 Chocolate stout cake sounds amazing. This cake is calling my name!
Lindsey, you would totally love that cake. It’s so incredibly decadent. In fact, I feel the need to make another. 🙂
Happy blog birthday, MJ! I am so thankful for this world of food blogging…somehow we stumble upon it, and in the process learn so much, from one another, about ourselves, and best of all, we make friends. I am so grateful to have met you, and hope we get to met in real life soon, too!
Love the cake. Proof again, that you can do anything!
Liren – You are so sweet! Sometimes you just feel a real connection to another person, and I’ve definitely felt it with you. Meeting you is high on my agenda!
What a gorgeous cake! I loved reading how merry gourmet came about…what a great story. It’s amazing how food brings people together in so many different ways. Congrats on a great year!!
Thank you so much, Aggie. I hope to meet you in person finally in April! I’m so glad we’ve connected.
Happy Happy Birthday Merry!
Thank you, thank you, Kelsey!
That is a great story!
I missed seeing you today. I hope to see you soon.
Karl
Thank you so much, Karl. I really wanted to go but we had so much going on. And, um, no babysitter. 🙂 Next time, I promise!
a busy day of house hunting yesterday kept me away from the computer & unable to properly wish you a happy blogaversary. thank you, mj, for sharing with us all of your stories and your recipes. we’re truly grateful to be able to be a part of it. also…this cake = yum. 🙂
hugs to you!
– t*
Tami – Thank you so much. I loved getting to know you in Birmingham. I’m really looking forward to May when we can hopefully chat over another B’ham pour of wine. Or two. 🙂
Happy Blogiversary to you! Your cake looks delicious, what a great way to celebrate! It has been so wonderful getting to know you both on-line and in real life! So happy to know you!
Kelly – It has been SO great getting to know you in person as well. Can’t wait to see you in New Orleans in August!
Happy happy blogaversary MJ! I’m SO happy that I got to meet you this year! You’re absolutely fantabulous! Can’t wait to see what the rest of this year has in store for you sweet friend! mwah!
*hugs* to you Paula!! So glad we met in person finally!
I’m so happy for you – Congratulations! This is such an accomplishment and you have a wonderful blog that I always enjoy. That cake, by the way, has my mouth watering! 🙂
Thank you, Caneel!
Another congrats on your blogiversary!
Your post completely resonates with me. I’m fairly new to blogging and have just started to find my true voice and immerse myself in the wonderful culture. While I still have so much to learn, like you, there is a tremendous sense of excitement building and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Looking forward to keeping up with your inspiring blog … and finding an afternoon to make that amazing cake one of these days soon!
Elizabeth – Now I’m excited for YOU. And you definitely should make this cake. It’s totally worth it. 🙂
WOW!!! That cake looks a foot high!!! I totally agree about food blogging– a wonderful outlet for all food feelings and dealings!!! Kudos to you for continuing to challenge yourself! With amazing results, yet!
Oh, thank you so much!
That might just be the most beautiful chocolate cake I have ever laid my eyes upon…
Happy happy blog bday- thank you for sharing yourself and your talents MJ 🙂
Happy Blogaversary! Well said and well eaten, congratulations!
That is one regal and magnificent cake. Congrats on another anniversary with your blog — and on finding a creative outlet that lets your voice and passion shine through. 😉
Thank you, Carolyn. 🙂
AHH!! I love how it’s so big!
Yessssssssssss
Booze and Chocolate Cake together. Yep I am in! Perfect way to start year 2! I look forward to seeing what you cook up!
Thanks so much, Taylor.
Happy Blogoversary!!! And that cake is enough for me to start wipin off drool from the keyboard 😀
Amazing! The word for this undoubtedly is decadent. Congratulations on one year!
Congratulations and Happy Blogoversary! Your cake looks like the perfect way to celebrate!
I made this cake a year or so ago and it is, without a doubt, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. The taste is so complex – a true chocolate cake for adults. Congratulations on an excellent blog and a truly delicious-looking cake.
Thanks, Mike!
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