Guinness-Sauced Sundaes & Happy Feet

St. Patrick's Day Feet From left: Baby Baby, Firstborn, Little Man

Guinness cupcakes, corned beef and cabbage, Irish coffee, Bailey's brownies: Are you tired of hearing about St. Patrick's Day yet? Me neither, which is exactly why I have no shame posting about the holiday a whole day late.

I was dying to serve a Guinness dessert to the fam last week. (We were lucky enough to spend spring break with my momma, stepdaddy, Big Little Brother and his fab gf.) Naturally that meant I pored over Pinterest during my wee-hour pumping sessions until I found something that A) sounded delicious and B) used Guinness.

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Veggies

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes and a Side of Soda Bread ... Outside on the Deck

I could go all out here and get into my family history how my great-grandparents were born in Ireland and ended up in New York - Lord knows how – but that's not why you're here, is it? 

I'll skip the stories behind the genealogy, my partiality to gingers and how I begged my parents to hire a harpist for my wedding, and I'll right to the point: I have Irish blood, I love St. Patrick's Day and I don't think I've ever drank a green beer in my life. (If I have, it hasn't been since undergrad and I can't remember the experience for one reason or another. For the record, I prefer my beer to be a lovely shade of brown – or almost black.) So I know corned beef on St. Patrick's Day is unauthentic and an American-inspired tradition (just ask Little Big Brother, I learned that fact the hard way.) But I don't really care. I look forward to eating my weight in corned beef all year. That's right. All. Year. Long. So without further ado, I give you the very simple, very indulgent, recipe that the husband and I enjoyed on the porch this evening - with beers in our honeymoon glasses, as per the husband's request.

Slainte!

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Veggies

3 medium carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces

4 small red potatoes, quartered

1/2-3/4 cup onion, quartered

12 ounces Guinness

2.5 lbs corned beef

4-5 cups water

Chop the vegetables and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Rinse the corned beef and put it on top of the vegetables. 

Pour the Guinness into the slow cooker and add in enough water to cover the meat.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours. 

I was more than happy to enjoy my corned beef with a side of steamed cabbage, which the husband gladly skipped. (I think he ate an extra slice of soda bread to make up for that.) And although I worried the husband might not love the meal as much as I did, he thought it was quite good. Neither of us is a fan of the obligatory spice packet that comes with the corned beef. You may want to add a few peppercorns to your slow cooker, but, as you can see, I don't think it's necessary. We both really enjoyed dinner. Actually, it was so good, we'll be enjoying it again tomorrow.

Chocolatey Stout Cakes

Chocolatey Stout Cake

The husband does not like cake. But he was in charge of making dinner tonight, and I wanted to make him something special for giving me the night off. He totally deserved a treat: As soon as I stepped out of the car I could smell him grilling. He made the most amazing grilled jerk chicken and cut it up into bowls of Alfredo noodles. (I also threw some green beans and tomatoes into my bowl, but he skipped those.) So, no, he doesn't like cake. But he likes beer. And being just a few short days away from St. Patrick's Day, I thought chocolatey stout cakes sounded awfully good - for the husband and me. 


Chocolate Stout Cakes
Inspired by a Recipe From my Momma (I have no idea where she got it)
Makes 1 large bundt cake or 12-15 ramekins or muffins

1 1/4 cup Guinness
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks salted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, chopped (mini chips would work well, too)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and position the rack in the middle of the oven. 

Butter the cake pan (or pans) with butter and sprinkle with cocoa. This will help you remove the cakes once they're baked.

Heat the Guinness and molasses over high heat in a small saucepan. Pay attention - the mixture could easily bubble! Bring the mixture to a simmer and remove from heat; start on the batter. 

Don't count the foam when measuring your Guinness.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt.

Cream the butter in a mixture on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add in the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed, for about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. 

With the mixture running on low speed, gradually add in the flour and liquid mixtures, alternating. Begin with the flour and end with the flour. Scrape the bowl as needed. Beat the mixture until smooth; add in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan or pans, smoothing the top with a spoon or spatula.

I thought I'd make 12 muffins ...

I ended up with enough batter for 12 muffins and three well-filled ramekins!

Bake until a toothpick comes out with just a few cake bits stuck to it. A cake may take 45-50 minutes. My muffins took 35 minutes; my ramekins took 40 minutes.

Serve with cream or a nice glass of milk. Freeze extra cakes wrapped in plastic and tin foil.

As I said, the husband isn't a cake guy. But he gladly licked the bowl while the cakes were baking and happily ate a ramekin as soon as it came out of the oven. When I asked him what he thought about the cake he told me they were chocolatey - but I don't think that was a complaint. When I asked him what he was going to serve me for my upcoming birthday dessert he said, "How about these?" 


I'll admit they were a bit sweet. Perhaps next time I'll switch out the cocoa for unsweetened natural cocoa powder or cut down on the brown sugar a little. But for a first attempt, it was definitely a success. I'd be more than happy if we had these again on my birthday. Maybe I'll even get a few more ramekins by then, hint, hint. If I have a husband who's going to be a fan of mini cakes, I'll need those, won't I?