St. Paddy's Day is only days away, which means I impulse bought a 6-pack of Guinness on my last grocery run, and I've been trying to find fun new ways to make a stout-based baking project.  There's the standard combination of stout with irish cream, which I've been happy with in the past, but I am a sucker for salted caramel, so when I found this recipe from The Hungry Housewife it jumped to the top of the list!  I opted to make mini bundt cakes instead of one large one so I could share these yummy treats more easily.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Guinness Mini Bundt Cakes

Yields: 36 mini bundt cakes

Ingredients:

Cake
  • 1 cup Guinness extra stout beer
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 Tablespoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salted Caramel Glaze
  • 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • Fleur de Sel (or flaked sea salt)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spray pan with cooking spray
  3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the Guinness and butter to a light boil, then add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.  Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
  6. Add the butter/Guinness mixture to the wet ingredients slowly and beat until just incorporated. If the Guinness mixture is still hot, only initially add a little bit to temper the eggs before adding the rest at a constant, slow stream to prevent the eggs from "cooking."
  7. Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
  8. Gently fold the mixture with a spatula to ensure all of the dry ingredients have been mixed in.
  9. Fill the mini bundt cake wells 1/2 full with batter.
  10. Bake for 17-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  11. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes until turning the mini bundts out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  12. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
  13. For the salted caramel glaze, in a medium saucepan, bring the butter, dark brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
  14. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
  15. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
  16. Add 1/2 cup of the sifted powdered sugar and whisk until smooth.
  17. Continue to add and whisk in the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time, making sure that the sugar lumps are broken up and the glaze is smooth.
  18. Remove the cakes from the refrigerator, place on a serving plate and drizzle the salted caramel glaze over the cakes.
  19. Sprinkle the fleur de sel or sea salt flakes over the glaze.