The Wicked

By Farmer and Chef Asheville

Imperially moist, rich, and edgy, the cake stands alone, and so does the sauce. The pluck is in Wicked Weed’s bourbon barrel-aged elixir. This dessert uses one bottle cooked down to concentrate the flavors, but not so much that the resulting reduction tastes bitter.

Ingredients

Imperial Chocolate Stout Cake

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 cup Wicked Weed Dark Age Bourbon

Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout reduction (recipe follows)

1¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter

2 large eggs

¾ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray. Combine sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa in a medium saucepan; whisk until smooth. Whisk in stout reduction until blended. Place over medium heat; add butter and cook, stirring, until butter melts. Remove from heat.
Whisk together eggs, sour cream, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth; whisk in baking soda and salt until blended. Scrape stout mixture into bowl and add flour; stir gently with whisk until no lumps of flour remain. Scrape into pan. Bake until cake begins to pull away from side of pan and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (45–55 minutes). Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Ingredients

Stout Toffee Sauce

2 cups sugar

1 cup Wicked Weed Dark Age Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout Reduction at

room temperature (recipe below)

½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon sea salt, or more to taste

Directions

Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar melts. Cover and cook 2 minutes to wash down any sugar crystals clinging to side of pan. Remove lid and continue boiling, without stirring, until sugar is a deep amber color. Remove from heat; add stout reduction, cream, and butter. (Mixture will boil furiously.) Return to heat and cook, stirring with a long-handled wooden spoon, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes about 2 cups.

Ingredients

Wicked Weed Dark Age Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout Reduction

22 ounces Wicked Weed Dark Age Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout

Directions

Bring stout to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently until stout reduces to 2 cups. Let cool completely. Can be stored in a covered jar in refrigerator up to one month.

To serve:

Crumble a slice of cake in a glass; top with vanilla, chocolate, or coffee ice cream; and dribble in the toffee sauce then top with a nibble of cake. Or cut the warm-ish cake into wedges, add ice cream, and swirl the sauce around and on top.

Pro tip: bake the cake ahead of time and freeze up to a month. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator just as long.

Christine Sykes Lowe and Debby Maugans, Edible Asheville’s recipe editors, are the owners of the media company Farmer & Chef South and the authors of the cookbook Farmer & Chef Asheville. Visit farmerandchefsouth.com.

You might also like…

2024 Fall, Homepage, Recipes

The Wicked

By Farmer and Chef Asheville

Ingredients

Directions

Ingredients

Directions

Ingredients

Directions

You might also like…

Sweet Potato Zuppa

Ramen and Wine Pairing

Blackened Carolina Shrimp Salad Rolls

THE WEEKLY REVEL