Chocolate Beer Cake

Again with the lack of patience. Imagine the powdered sugar sifted more beautifully if you'd like.

Sometimes friends leave beer in your refrigerator and you have NO CHOICE but to make things like beer cheddar soup, rarebit sauce, and chocolate cake. No choice.

Stout would be preferable here, but other beers work too.

I was drawn to this recipe because it did was I was planning to do: find a standard recipe for chocolate beer cake and then replace most of the butter/oil with applesauce. It came out great. The only changes I made were leaving out the chocolate chips in the cake itself, simplifying the egg situation to 2 whole eggs (rather than 1 egg and 2 whites), and leaving out the white sugar.

The glaze, pre-melting. Some men would probably eat this in its current state.

As far as serving goes, I think a dollop of sour cream on top would be absolutely fabulous. But I didn't have any, and no one's complaining around here.

The Recipe:

1 tb butter, softened

3/4 c brown sugar

3 tb unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c dark beer

For the glaze:

1/2 c chocolate chips

2 tb beer

1 tb butter

Combine the butter, sugar, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.
Mix in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Gently mix in the beer.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
Cool cake before glazing.
Prepare glaze by microwaving the chocolate chips, beer, and butter for about 90 seconds, stirring halfway through.
Spread glaze over cake and top with powdered sugar.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: B

Overall reason: Easy and not too unhealthy. Needs creamy frosting or sour cream or something.

Time to prepare: 20 minutes, plus baking and cooling

Husband quote: "Hmm, is there tofu in it?" (Many hints later...) "Oh, beer! Yes, I taste the beer now."
Also, "If you put beer in a cake, then you can have beer any time.... that you can have cake."

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