Russian Imperial Stout Cake with bittersweet chocolate ganache

According to Miata Guy, this is the most delicious cake ever made! It is as thick as heavy cheese cake, and as black as midnight. Rich and heavy, the rigid cake leaves a lasting roasted barley and cocoa impression for your senses to savor. A bittersweet ganache lays on top of this truly unique cake.

According to Lama Lover, the subtle hop flavors counteract the sweetness from the chocolate. The stout beer not only gives this cake its fabulous rich color but also creates a unique finish on the back of your tongue. I do not enjoy stout beers to drink and did not expect for this cake to be as delicious as it is. The deliciousness comes as a cost.... 825 calories per 1/16th of the cake. 

Original Recipe was taken from King Arthur Flour

Step One
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 3 nine inch pans (at least 2 inches deep).

Step two
Place 2 cups stout or dark beer (We used Stone's Russian Imperial Stout 22 oz bottle. Miata Guy gently boiled the volume down to 10oz.) and 2 cups unsalted butter in a large, heavy sauce, and heat until the butter melts. Then remove the pan from the heat and add 1 1/2 cups dutch process cocoa. Whisk the mixture until smooth and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Step three
Place one pound copped bittersweet chocolate in a large bowl.  Heat 2 cups of heavy cream in saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in one teaspoon vanilla extract. Place mixture in fridge and stir every 20 minutes and mixture has an icing like texture about 90 to 120 minutes.

 Step four
Whisk 4 cups flour, 4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Step five
Beat together 4 large eggs and 3/4 cup sour cream in a large bowl. Add the stout-cocoa mixture and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix together at a slow speed. Once combined, mix for one minute.

Step six
Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Turn out on racks to finish cooling.

Step seven
Assemble layers adding a layer of ganache between each cake layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remained of gauche.

Step eight
Enjoy!