I’ve baked quite a few cakes in my life (hundreds actually through my business Sweet Melissa) and this Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake is hands down my favorite to date. It literally only lasts a day or two sitting on the kitchen counter before it’s completely gobbled up. The texture is incredibly fudgy and I find it utterly addicting to eat—rich but not too sweet. This recipe uses a boxed cake & pudding mix—I’m definitely not above using shortcuts like these when the end result is so delectable. I’ve been using a local oatmeal stout from Zorn Brew Works Co. in this recipe, but any dark brew would do. After getting a growler of the stout, I leave some to get a little flat and bring to room temperature before mixing into the batter. Don’t ask me why, but this seems to make the cake really tender. I drizzle a chocolate ganache over the cooled cake and this takes it to a whole other level—skipping this step would be a big mistake believe me. I urge you to make this cake just once and I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be addicted too.

Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix

1 (3.4 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups sour cream

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup stout, slightly flat & at room temp

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan. With a mixer, blend the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, oil, and stout until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until set. Don’t over-bake—the cake should still be a fudgy consistency. After removing from oven, let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before carefully inverting onto a cake plate.

To prepare the chocolate ganache glaze, place chocolate chips into a bowl. Heat heavy cream until it comes to a simmer then pour over the chocolate chips and cover for 10 minutes. Stir the ganache until smooth then let set uncovered for 15 minutes or more until it’s a bit thicker consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Enjoy!

Photos by Laura Duggleby Photography