Irish Stout Beer Cake...

Yesterday was Leap Year Day. Today we leap into March, bringing St Patty's Day. So...last night we celebrated my Dad's 20th Birthday. I made a cake for the occasion. I found "the frog" at TJ Maxx, I thought "he" would make a great cake topper! Since this was Dad's 80th birthday and Leap Year I wanted to make it extra special.....

 The cake I made was sugar free to suit our needs. 

A standard cake mix works just as well.

Since March 17th will be here soon, I wanted to make my Chocolate Beer Cake.

Irish Stout Beer Cake...

 You will need:

1 chocolate cake mix, follow directions on the box

*Use the ingredients the cake mix requests. 

My box asked for 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of oil and 1 1/4 cups of water.

* Replace the water for Beer.

1 bottle of stout beer; I used a bourbon beer.

I also added one small package of *pudding, I used a Caramel & Chocolate combination. * This is optional. If you use the pudding it will be very moist.

Preheat the oven for 350 degrees. Choose your pan and set the baking time according to the box.

 Blend the cake mix as directed on the box, I replaced the water for beer.

 Once the cake is mixed, place in a pan that has been prepared with cooking spray. Add the pudding if so desired. 

 Use a knife to blend the pudding into the cake mix. *If you use the pudding it will be very moist. It is not necessary to use the pudding.

 I baked my cake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. With the pudding added it took a about 8 minutes longer than without. Set the time according the box and check every five minutes if cake needs more cooking time. 

 I choose a square pan. After baking & cooling, I leveled the cake with a sharp knife.

The aroma of the stout beer in the cake was heavenly!

I let the cake cool for 20 minutes before I added the frosting. 

 I placed the frosting in a glass bowl and heated it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. This makes it SO easy to spread the frosting.

 After frosting with the chocolate, I added sprinkles and while chocolate.

 I also melted some chocolate, then spread it on some wax paper to cool. Once it hardened I used it to make "splashes" of mud for the cake. 
See the final picture.

 On the top of the frosted cake, I added grated white chocolate, chocolate sprinkles and then...

 I added the hardened chocolate to the cake, creating a frog on mud frosting with mud splashes made of chocolate. See finished cake below...

 Too cute!!! My Dad loved his cake! He loved the looks & the taste!

 My Dad LOVES having a Leap Year Birthday! He had these sweatshirts made special for his special day!

 Proud to have 20 birthdays and be 80 years old!

 We went to a local restaurant, The Green Barn for dinner! They were kind enough to serve Dad his Birthday dinner on a special plate we brought with us.

The ribs were awesome by the way!

 He was sure surprised when they brought out his cake!

His wishes will come true...he blew out ALL the candles!

Happy Birthday (again) Dad!

You can't celebrate too much when your birthday only comes... 

ONCE every 4 years.

Doing Leap Year with Style...

All photo's are property of NeeCee at Pine Creek Style