Brooklyn Brewery Pumpkin Ale Chocolate Cake

The inspiration for this beer-laced dessert came from a blog post I saw at A Bowl of Mush.  They looked incredibly yummy.  Halloween was around the corner.  I just picked up many bottles of Brooklyn Brewery beers. And Garrett Oliver was in town.  Creating a boozy version of A Bowl of Mush's Halloween cake squares was just what I needed to get my creative juices going.  This recipe makes a lightly spiced pumpkin-y dark chocolate cake.  The butter cream is simple and lightly flavored with pumpkin ale, and the chocolate drizzle is slightly hoppy.  Enjoy, and Happy Halloween1
Ingredients:
Cake

	1 cup Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale
	1/2 cup canned pumpkin
	1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
	2 teaspoons cinnamon
	1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
	3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch)
	2 cups sugar 2 cups flour
	2 teaspoons baking soda
	3/4 teaspoon salt
	3 large eggs
	3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Frosting

	1/2 cup butter
	6 cups powered sugar, sifted
	1/2 cup pumpkin ale
	1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
	Food Coloring (optional)

Chocolate Drizzle

	1 cup (8 oz) bittersweet chocolate
	4 oz Brooklyn Brewery chocolate stout

 

Preparation

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.  I prefer glass pans myself.  Bring 1 cup Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.  Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. It will be very thick.  Allow to cool for a bit.  Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream/yogurt in another large bowl to blend. Add beer-pumpkin-chocolate-butter mixture to egg mixture slowly and beat just to combine.  Make sure that the beer-pumpkin-chocolate-butter combo has cooled so that it does not curdle and cook the eggs when you add it. It is preferable to stream it slowly into the eggs to temper them.  Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour into the pan and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely. 

Frosting:

Combine butter, beer, nutmeg, and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth.  Red and yellow food coloring can be used to achieve an orange colored frosting, but not necessary.  The frosting will be a cream shade without the food coloring.  I keep beating until the frosting is smooth, airy, and light.

Chocolate Drizzle:

In a double broiler, melt chocolate until smooth.  Add the beer slowly while whisking it in.  The beer may appear to start breaking, cracking, or doing other such ugly things.  Just keep whisking.  It should come together smoothly.  You can add more beer for more liquid chocolate drizzle at room temperature or less beer for a firmer chocolate drizzle.  Allow to cool completely. 

Assembling:

Once cake is cool, cover the top with the frosting evenly.  It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth.  Using a piping bag and a small round tip, drizzle the chocolate over the top of the frosting.  Eat the extra frosting.  Chill the cake for at least 2 hours prior to serving.  Drink the rest of the chocolate stout as you are waiting.  Enjoy!

The ingredients.

The beer-pumpkin-chocolate-butter and the egg-yogurt mixture.

The batter will be incredibly thick.

Finished product.

This is why I don't have a picture of a serving plated up. It was gone in a jiffy.