Cooking with Geo Vol. 5: Beer makes everything better

After some banter with my good friend Magnus about how amazing Guinness gingerbread would be, I wasn't able to stop thinking about it, so i went hunting and tracked down a great recipe for it. At work, any excuse for a cake is a good one, and little Lily coming to be with us was a perfect reason to make a cake and test it out on my guinea pigs, er, I mean coworkers. It was a bit time consuming make with the waiting to cool part in the middle, but in the end was spicy, moist, cakey deliciousness. I had no Guinness (a tragedy I know) but I used a bottle of espresso oatmeal stout (which tastes very similar) and it worked very well. You even get about 1/2 c of beer left to sip while baking, which to me is like cooking with wine...cooking and sipping makes it taste even better :)
I served it with whipped cream and I will definitely be making it again. It was devoured by my coworkers before I thought to get a photo, so you'll just have to imagine the deliciousness. Lily's Mum also gives it two large and two tiny thumbs up. I thought if I was asked to share the recipe with all them I should probably post it here too so you can all go home and make it this weekend. It's seriously some of the best cake I've ever had...and in my life, I've had me a lot of cake!

Gramercy Tavern Guinness Gingerbread

Ingredients
1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Special equipment: a 10-inch (10- to 12-cup) bundt pan

Experimental Protocol
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. Make a few sniggering remarks about bundt pans. Then move on...
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring often, and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature. (when you add the soda it really foams up a lot...don't freak out :) You really need a large saucepan)
Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars in another bowl. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 45-50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream
Apparently it's best if you serve it the day after it's made. I did and it was freakishly good, so I can't argue...
Go have some cake...and a good weekend.
Bye :)