Philadelphia is not only home to the cheese steak, the Liberty Bell and my sweet god-daughter H but also the location of one of my favorite bakeries, Metropolitan. After college, my dear friend C moved to Philly to attend vet school at Penn and lived across the street from Metropolitan in Rittenhouse Square. After nearly ten years, our love affair has stood the test of time.

During a recent overnight to the city of brotherly love, I was introduced to their chocolate stout cake. As soon as I returned to the island, I checked their cookbook that sweet H’s mom gave me as a birthday gift (love you, S) but to my disappointment they decided not to share their secret. Thus began my search for the perfect recipe. Lucky for me, the food enthusiasts at Smitten Kitchen are always willing to share!

Chocolate Stout Cake
– 1 cup stout (Guinness)
– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)
– 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 2 cups sugar
– 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 3/4 tsp. salt
– 2 lg. eggs (room temperature)
– 2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache
– 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
– 6 Tbs. heavy cream
– 3/4 tsp. instant coffee/espresso

Directions
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add in 1 egg at a time.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a liquid measuring cup, combine 1 cup of stout and sour cream and gently whisk.
5. Slowly combine flour mixture and stout mixture to butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture.
6. Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, until a cake knife comes out clean.
7. Let cake cool completely.
8. For ganache, use a double broiler and slowly whisk chocolate chips, cream and instant coffee until chocolate has completely melted. The ganache should be smooth and have a beautiful sheen to it. Spoon over cooled cake.

This cake rivals my Mom’s devil food’s chocolate cake, which she has made for the last twenty years; not too sweet, not too dense, an absolute perfect harmony of flavors. If you are craving a little chocolate, please make this cake. It’s perfection in my book!