I've been meaning to make a chocolate stout cake with ganache icing for several years now.
This St. Patrick's Day it was finally time.
When I talked to my sister a few days before St. Patrick's Day she mentioned she was planning to make a chocolate stout cake for an Irish themed dinner over the weekend.
But hers, along with many others on the web, seemed too big and too rich for a Weight Watchers family of two 🙂
Many were large bundt cakes or multi-layer monstrosities calling for tons of butter and sugar, which is not a bad thing when you're having a party and have lots of folks to share it with.
But, I didn't.
Recipe Notes
So after checking out a few sources, I came up with a more restrained single layer chocolate stout cake of my own by making several changes to the Best Chocolate Cake Recipe in my old 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook (affiliate link).
For an extra bit of richness I topped it with a thin layer of creamy holiday-worthy chocolate ganache.
Moist, rich and delicious this stout cake with chocolate ganache icing was the perfect St. Patrick's Day dessert.
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Chocolate Cake?
According to my calculations, each slice (1/12th) has about 222 calories and:
9 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
If you've made this easy Chocolate Stout Cake, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Chocolate Stout Cake with Ganache Icing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose or cake flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup stout, such as Guinness
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Ganache Icing
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 7 tablespoons cream
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and Heat oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. (I like to use Baker's Joy Baking Spray with flour.)
- Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl (affiliate link) and beat with an electric mixer (affiliate link) on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times, for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally so all the ingredients are well incorporated, for 3 minutes.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then carefully remove the cake from the pan and place right side up on the wire rack to cool completely.
- Transfer the cooled cake to a cake plate and spread the top of the cake with chocolate ganache.
- To make the Ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just to a boiling. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand, without stirring, for a few minutes. Stir gently, with a spoon or whisk, until smooth. Refrigerate until cooled and thick enough to spread, 3 to 4 hours.
- When the cake and ganache are cool, spread the top of the cake with the ganache.
Recipe Notes
Recipe source: Betty Crocker Cookbook (affiliate link)
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
If you like chocolate stout cake with chocolate ganache icing, you might also like:
- Skinny Low-Fat Chocolate Cake Recipe Roundup (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Easy Weight Watchers Friendly Chocolate Chip Snack Cake (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Banana Chocolate Swirl Cake (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Baileys Irish Cream Cheese Frosting (SkinnyTaste)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Debby
Oh my goodness Martha! Amazing little cake. It was perfect. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into your recipes-I can always count on them to be good.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks Debby! Glad you liked it too.
Jackie
Love this cake!!! I make it for dessert auctions when I go to a function of some kind. It’s dense, rich, and yummy!!