eggbeater

plated desserts, in words

devil's food cake
crunchy buckwheat
amedei milk chocolate cream
chocolate-almond-buckwheat dacquoise
hot fudge sauce
dark chocolate granita
milk chocolate-cocoa nib-crunchy buckwheat-maldon salt 'candy'
        --plated on a plate

crunchy buckwheat is buckwheat groats simmered in oil until toasted
'candy' is made by melting cocoa butter & chocolate, rolling between layers of parchment & chilling
dacquoise is not a true dacquoise because I've added buckwheat flour as well as crunchy buckwheat, but it still has that light but unleavened quality indicative of an egg white cake

spicy thai coconut soup sorbet
cilantro (fresh coriander)-kalamansi lime-cucumber-thai basil soup
mango slivers, diced jicama, cherries, nectarines, watermelon triangles
        -- plated in a bowl

coconut sorbet is infused with galangal, ginger, green & red chillies, fresh & dried coriander, mustard seeds, basil, and dessicated coconut, then mounted with coconut milk
dessert is inspired by highlighting summer fruits & veg in gazpacho

ginger jelly
forbidden black & sticky rice
coconut cream
coconut caramel
fried sticky rice, two ways, sprinkled with amchur-salt-sugar
fresh dice pineapple
        --plated in a glass

ginger jelly has a kick from a long infusion/boil
forbidden black rice has one of the most amazing flavors & colours of any ingredient i've come accross. it's purple and black & blue mixed. while it is not 'sticky,' it works well with a sticky rice because both have their own distinct personalities
sticky rice is fried after it is cooked and sheeted single layer. it is also fried after sheeting much finer between two pieces of lightly oiled parchment, left to dry on stove & fried. the former method created little crunchy bits, the latter creates a rice 'cracker,' ---- light and aerated, like a puff

Royal Blenheim Apricots. buy & eat me now. Northern California & beyond.

Now is the time.
The time is Right Now.
If you live in California, USA or anywhere close by, and you love apricots

{photo by Anita Crotty of Married ...with Dinner}

The Royal Blenheim Apricot is in season right this minute.

AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THEM GO EXTINCT IN YOUR LIFE TIME

support the few farmers left growing them.

All this information just in from my favorite group, Bakers Dozen.

Dear Bakers Dozen Members:
The Blenheims are Here!  If you’d like to organize a carpool to pick some up, here are some sources:

 ♦Apricot King—Patty Gonzales’ orchard
Email:  info@apricotking.com
Phone:  831/637-1938

Visit their farm in Hollister, or check them out at these local farmer's markets:

Santa Cruz
2:30 to 6:30 Wednesdays – Lincoln & Cedar, one block off Pacific in downtown Santa Cruz
Los Altos
4 to 8 p.m. – Thursdays, downtown Los Altos
Palo Alto
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Sundays (California & El Camino)
Mountain View
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Sundays (Hope & Evelyn Streets)

 
♦Andy's Orchard
1615 Half Road
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Store Hours:
10:00am - 5:00pm Weekdays
10:00am - 4:00pm Weekends
(408) 782-7600 and ask for Lorene

or
•    Sigonona's Market (Palo Alto)
•    Cosentino's (San Jose) carries Andy's fruit
•    Local Farmers Market @ Garden Accent
•    11155 Lena Ave, Gilroy, CA 408/846-4555 Thur  2-7 pm
or look on the local harvest website.

More lovely photos can be found on Flickr of Royal Blenheim Apricots on the branch, taken by Spidra Webster.

summer in the city. /july.

this is summer in the city.
wanton.
fetid fruit.
salt sweat lick lips
forehead wipe
going commando
sand between toes
watermelon
watermelon
ices, ice melting, sweaty glasses,
one long nap
sheetless sleep
clothesless sleep
mice in the oven
salad for dinner
gazpacho
tomato sandwiches
unbuttoned shirts
ties, despised.

this is summer in the city
teenage sex
drinking on the corner
nights as long as days
days that never end
months that never change.

this is summer in the city
coney island
the boardwalk
raw clams
little paper umbrellas
blow up pools on the sidewalk
unforgiving bodies
every age in every bathing suit
white skin aflame red
black barber shops packed every night
white t shirts
stoop conversations
walking the dog at 3 am.

this is july.

base. bottom. flat.
surely summer even if june didn't put out.
sticky, humid, smoggy, still air, dirty hair,
peeling skin.

JULY.

unapologetic.
no reprieve.
get on the train, get in the car, roll the windows down, flirtatious feet on the dash
show a little skin
let go your inhibitions
steal kisses
rest in the walk in
wrap a towel in ice and feel it drip down your back, breasts
short skirt
stare
catcall
chew gum
play dominoes
salsa music
white sneakers
hidden agendas
take chances
gamble on the unforgiveable
a pinch of this and a slap of that.

summer.

hot as fuck.
hot kitchens.
hot machines.
hot subways.

dogs panting
children passed out in arms, prams, mussed beds.

this is summer in the city
go to the movies
see a film
wear a sweater on the hottest day
in the coldest air conditioning
swim in the ocean
chew ice
fool
you ain't no fool
gooseberry fool
monkey in the middle  tomfoolery.

this is
summer
j u l y
in the city.

sticky pavement
tattoos
reckless
headlights out
bareback
broken glass
hidden in beach sand
dancing in the street
coming out
packing
confident
high heels
sleeveless dress
tank tops
peaches nectarines cherries apricots green herbs
coco helado.

this is summer in the city.
tropical concrete
city pools
city parks
cruising
urban beaches
the ice cream truck
stickball
rollerskates
first love
sleepaway camp
mosquitoes, canoeing, whisper me your friendship
melt me like marshmallows on chocolate
look up at a canopy of trees
focus on the horizon
sleep outside
picnic at the edge of the sea.
fuck me hard
forget me in the morning
leave laces untied
peel a mango back
teeth
face covered in yellow pulp.

july.
gratuitous heat, pie, watermelon seeds, bbq, sea swimming, shave head, ink a needle and push it into skin.

summer.
i hope you get all you can

summer fruit desserts, in London.

I'm back working in a restaurant after what feels like many years. Moving thousands of miles can do that-- separate you from what you know, and remove the ground from beneath your feet. What was a recent experience can feel far away in lieu of disorientation.

For the last 11 years, the ground beneath my chef feet has been seasonal, local, mostly organic fruit; and my moniker, 'fruit-inspired pastry chef,' has been my guiding force. I have picked fruit, worked for farmers at favorite farmer's markets and eaten my weight in citrus and stone fruit many times over. I said for years anad years that I stayed in California for its gratuitous fruit array.

But here in London, fruit is an afterthought. Besides apples and pears in autumn, and gooseberries, elderflowers and strawberries in summer, which few do better than Britain, fruit comes from very far away and few people know when to buy it at its peak. Most fruit and vegetables are here year round, but flown in from various countries and continents catchers-catch can style, making fruit buying confusing at best.

And because few fruits are grown in British soil, they arrive with a high price tag. Using fruit as a primary focus for a plated dessert, here in London, is a bad idea, cost-wise. But also flavour-wise, because seasonal fruit in South Africa or Spain, or even a country as close as France, is probably not picked and shipped as ripe as one would hope.

All this said, I have found trusted places to buy UK seasonal fruit. And the restaurant I work for is produce-centric and we use an amazing produce purveyor, so I feel infinitely grateful/lucky to have well-chosen product close by.

That said, what desserts are on the horizon?

I'm thinking about tahini, white chocolate, bananas, tamarind, black sesame seeds, grapefruit; Thai coconut soup sorbet; manouri, strawberries & pink peppercorns; gooseberries, mint, rosemary, elderflowers & corn; mango inspired gazpacho; buckwheat & chocolate; brown butter, raw sugar, frangipane & nectarines; young coconut, black rice, caramel. For our retail shop I'm contemplating sandwich cookies, chocolate bouchons, Lamingtons, real graham crackers, verbena profiteroles, tart lemon drizzle cakes, peanut financiers, and rich bread & butter puddings.

Moving to a new place means thinking different. Cooking and baking professionally for a new public means learning about their collective palates and historical connections to food, fruit, baked goods, salt. I can still bring me to the table, but I have to compromise too. I can't move forward: careerwise, dessertwise, bakingwise; if I do not take into consideration new soil, new people, new fruit, new seasons, new pace, new price-point, new retail environment, new attitudes about communication/confrontation, new communication styles, new everything, really.

I look forward to changing styles a bit. While I will always be a fruit-inspired pastry chef, I look forward to thinking differently, in a new way, to meet my new surroundings and continue to grow. One can get too comfortable/ too ghetto-ized/ too smug in one's niche/ geographical area/ style. Stuck.

If nothing else, it should be interesting.

Underground Restaurant by @MsMarmitelover. Kilburn, London 13.06.09

you have been on twitter for a while
but when you move 8000 miles away twitter becomes something else, explodes
suddenly it's like when you first met the internet
everything new, you are innocent and trusting
and go to people's houses
you've never met, in Real Life, before.
Oneday
in the land of
nothingness that is neither working nor vacationing
you get a DM
'hey-- you wanna be a guest chef at my Underground Restaurant?' the person's name is @MsMarmitelover.
you say yes and head to her house
even though you have no idea what train you're on and how to get there.

you both talk about a lot of things.
but what catches your breath is that you speak of one of your most favoritest dishes to make and eat
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
you both agree:
when it's Done Right
it takes all day.
and an idea is born.


you know British strawberries will arrive just before June 13
and you don't know what you'll make for pudding/dessert
but you know it will be All About Those Amazing Strawberries.

while you've never been to or cheffed at an Underground Restaurant, you've done a fair amount of onsite catering and know you can handle it. you don't sweat the small stuff and you can pass on a few restaurant tricks. but it's not about any of that. it's about
COLLABORATION
COMRADERIE
COMMUNITY
ACCESS
REVOLUTION
HOME
HEART
GENEROSITY
delicious food.



to see the menu in it's entirety, photographed by the fabulous @MsMarmitelover, go to her blog The English Can Cook. The craziest thing you'll see is me in a dress in the kitchen !

My favourite lines from her inital post on our dinner:
"Shuna Fish Lydon is a specialist in patisserie and custards. What she doesn't know about eggs is not worth knowing."

*

For the photos I managed to catch between prep, plate-up, keeping tidy and generally taking in the whole scene with my heart and mind, check out my set on Flickr.

~

Underground Restaurants -
putting the u back in Guerilla.

underground restaurant above ground menu {ideas}

On Saturday June 13, Shuna fish Lydon is a guest chef at @MsMarmitelover's Underground Restaurant Extra Ordinaire!

Here are our ideas for what it will look like, although everything is subject to change because of availability

or whim.

bread
seeded crackers

starter
chunky gazpacho
goat yogurt granite + basil jelly
chilled fresh tomato soup, croutons

main
eggplant parmesan

salad
rocket + chicory + lemon + pinenuts

dessert
strawberry bavarois + strawberry & herb salad
rosemary shortbread, strawberry relish, ricotta mousse
strawberry granita, sheeps yogurt lebne, pistachio salad
carneroli-bay laurel pudding, strawberry salad, pistachio & rose petal shortbread

Menus are ideas, thoughts, musings, concepts, theory, themes, tradition, revolution, albums, one-offs, off the cuff, pre-meditated, conjecture, psychotic breaks, dreams, stolen kisses, drunk black outs, cock walks, demure courtship, powerplay, negotiation, vanilla lovely dovey rool arounds, theater, dance, Be Ins, walkouts, strikes, community efforts, and...

They grow in the ground, near the sea's edge, in our hearts.

I'll let you know via photos and musings how the day and night went once all is told, fed, washed, minced, chilled, forked, spooned, quenelled, poached, whisked, baked, tasted, nibbled, imbibed,

satiated.

Until next time.

Tamarillo! my new favorite fruit.

TAMARILLO !

The Mystery Fruit is Solved.
Thank you to all who participated! Many of you were spot on. The rest of you were close or had great guesses.

The lovely Tamarillo is sweet & savoury
tomatoey & melony
elusive like a papaya,
enigmatic fruit like cucumber,
gorgeous to look at
deeply scented like a handsome farmer,
"rich in vitamin E but low in carbohydrates,"
photogenic
sexy



Tamarillo. Tamarillo. O Tamarillo!



Tamarillos are
edible
raw
or cooked



seedy, crunchy, jelly-like
voluptuous
strong
quirky
strange

Tamarillos straddle many fences.
Not everyone will like them.

Tamarillos will keep you on your toes.
And tease you
taunt
with their
je ne sais quoi
flavour.

What is the Tamarillo flavour?
Sun ripened tomato  melon  papaya  guava  red beet.



Tamarillos are the pride of New Zealand.
Yet another reason to go there.

*


This post is dedicated to Keith, who first introduced me to the Tamarillo with his poetic words about Tamarillo Jelly (jelly is something very different outside of the States) and then brought me to The Modern Pantry where I experienced poached tamarillo in Greek yogurt, garnished with New Zealand's famous Manuka honey. After that I was never the same. Obsessed.

So, thank you Anna Hansen for introducing London, and me, to this magnificent fruit!

This post is also dedicated to Bea Vo of her eponymous bakery, Bea's of Bloomsbury. Last week I had the honour of playing in her illustrious kitchen and she sent me home with a flat of raw tamarillos!

And you? Do you have a fondness for this fruit? What do you love about it? What do you do with it?

Mystery Fruit: What am I & What do I Taste Like?

The Harwood Arms, Gastropub Extra Ordinaire. Fulham, London

Not all 'gastro-pubs' are created equal.
Some are just pubs with a big kitchen.
Some are superfancy fried food joints.
And then
there's pubs like Anchor & Hope or
The Harwood Arms
who blow you away.

Compared with food-centric American cities, London is not known for 'destination eating.' Meaning, unless for a Michelin rated experience, Londoners will rarely travel clear across the city for a meal, a drink, a baguette or a sweet thing. One has one's 'local,' and that about does it. For the food obsessed, though, there are of course exceptions.

I went to The Harwood Arms once, by happenstance. Close friends of mine were married in Fulham, and booked the gastro-pub for their meal and reception afterwords. It was one of the most seamless restaurant 'large party' experiences I was ever part of. The house decorated a long farmhouse table in clementines and rose petals, and when our pre-arranged meal came out, many of us were rendered speechless as the food was gorgeously presented, well-executed and stunningly delicious.
But every time I attempted to go there again, from late winter to early spring, they were booked to capacity and unable to seat me.



Until last Bank Holiday Monday.
San Franciscan friends were visiting and I wanted to introduce them to a piece of London they might not otherwise be in the know about.

Our entire meal, complete with an ending of every single dessert (or pudding, as it is named in Britain) is documented in a set on flickr.
I beg of you to make a booking here. Especially if you know you're on your way to London.
I dare say you will not be disappointed.

MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS YOUR HELP!! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

PLEASE MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
PLEASE go to Friends of Monterey Market and show your support/read about what you can do.
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER.
PLEASE DO NOT SHOP AT MONTEREY MARKET AFTER JUNE 3rd UNLESS BILL FUJIMOTO takes back his resignation.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD THAT MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS EVERY ONE'S HELP to make it clear that Bill Fujimoto IS Monterey Market and his resignation is not an option.
PLEASE MAKE IT CLEAR TO THE ENTIRE FUJIMOTO FAMILY that you will not support a market that places its bottom line before family.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

If you have eaten ANYWHERE IN THE BAY AREA, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you have ever shopped at ANY FARMERS MARKET, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you have ever blogged about new fruit in season, new fruit available in the USA, climbed upon the great pumpkin interactive sculpture in North Berkeley, or made anything in any home kitchen or restaurant or catering kitchen with any fruit or vegetables, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you believe in farmers, chefs with integrity, great produce, eating seasonally, eating locally, supporting local business YOU BELIEVE IN SUPPORTING MONTEREY MARKET.
AND YOU WOULD CONSIDER SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT TO A MARKET, A TEMPLE, A STORE, AN INSTITUTION that was in need of help.

MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS YOUR HELP.
PLEASE BLOG ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW AND LET GOOGLE AND THE FUJIMOTOS KNOW WE WILL BE HEARD.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT BILL FUJIMOTO'S RESIGNATION.
WE WILL NOT SHOP AT THE STORE IF THE FAMILY ACCEPTS HIS RESIGNATION.
PLEASE TWEET ABOUT MONTEREY MARKET and the petition.
PLEASE TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.

I love Monterey Market.
I always have.
I always will.
I support Monterey Market from accross the USA and into the United Kingdom.
BUY EAT AT BILLS AND WATCH IT WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW PILED INTO THE LIVINGROOM if you don't believe me when I say this is a place that must be saved!!!!!!

**If you have time to leave a comment here, you have time to write a letter to the Fujimoto's.

Baking Classes in London. Bea's of Bloomsbury 2009 {POSTPONED}

You heard it right !



SHUNA LYDON
LONDON BAKING CLASSES
!
AT BEA'S OF BLOOMSBURY
Cake Shop Extra Ordinaire
44 Theobald's Road
London WC1X 8NW




Premiering Class ~

Meringue etc.: A Myriad of Egg White Possibilities
Egg whites are the backbone of dozens of recipes both sweet and savoury. Egg whites help cakes rise, make souffles turn into clouds of flavour, and play the leading role in meringues. Knowing how to work with egg whites well can lead to endless possibilities in the kitchen, including countless wheat & gluten-free desserts.

But egg whites are tricky. Come to this class and you could leave confident in ways you never imagined! Learn the 'Hows' and 'Whys' of egg whites and their mysterious ways from me, Shuna Lydon, student of the egg & consummate pastry chef, in the sweet kitchen laboratory of Bea's of Bloomsbury cake shop.

29/05/09 ~ THIS CLASS HAS BEEN POSTPONED!
SORRY FOR THE LATE NOTICE
JUNE DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY...

Sunday May 31, 2009
4:30 - 7:30 pm
£115*

*This price is negotiable.
As we are just starting out, please do not be afraid of emailing me to negotiate.

1 spot reserved at discounted price for 'assistant' position
----> email me directly if you think this should be you

Shuna Lydon has been teaching baking & knife skills classes for the last 5 years in North America.
Classes link documenting all of these.


Photo by Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes
from my last Egg Whites class.

See you soon?

come one, come all, come hungry to learn!

Petersham Nurseries for lunch at the Tea House.

I just wanted to remind you, and you know who you are, to go to Petersham Nurseries if you have not yet been. I realize that it's quite dear to eat in the restaurant. And that it's a bit far away.
But you know what?
There's nothing like it.
It's gorgeous, enchanting, delicious,
and you can get there by boat or Overground, not just Rail. So there. Easy-peasy.
Need a photographic prod? Here, take a gander.



As a reminder, the cafe serves food just as delicious as the restaurant, but not nearly as expensive.
It's open Wednesday - Sunday 12 Noon - 2:45 pm

I realize there's a notion that expensive eateries are more firmly grounded than more reasonable ones, but I am here to state for the record, as a chef and friend of many a restaurateur, places like Petersham Nursuries need continual support to remain who they are striving to be. The food here is clean, bright, fresh, hearty, nourishing and made with love.
And the Eccles Cakes are not half bad either. {I have knowledge from the inside.}



I hope you make it out here. If you go for the first time because I've leaned on you, can you let me us know what you thought?

dessert poems. IV

black sesame dacquoise
roasted banana mousse
macadamia praline
peach & apricot matchsticks; quick saute
tahina foam

lemon gelee
lemon sherbet
lemon confit slice
water caramel
grapefruit supremes
dots of lemon cream
black pepper-vanilla-rosemary shortbread halfcircles; baked until deep golden

very thin layer chocolate souffle-cake
peanut-feuillitine-milk chocolate-vanilla salt crunch
cocoa nib dentelle
milk chocolate-butter caramel cremeaux
another very thin layer chocolate souffle-cake
cocoa powder
slow roasted peanuts

dessert poems. III

buckwheat sable grissini
kasha pot de creme
toasted pumpkin seed-comice pear salad

raw almond milk gelee
toasted israeli cous cous
vanilla salt, long pepper, one caraway seed toasted & crushed
green almonds & cucumber seeds
peeled, sliced and halved green seedless grapes

pink grapefruit
yuzu marmalade
citrus blossom souffle
goat butter shortbread

dessert poems. II

warmed pinenuts, minced golden raisins, moroccan lemon
fromage frais
mint chiffonade
white balsamic gelee

butter caramel
milk chocolate cream
grilled croissant
peanut hot milk
maldon

brunoise lime
roast pineapple
sheep yogurt granite sprinkled over soft yogurt
pistachio-macadamia honey brittle crunch
smoked salt

dessert poems

sucre
genoise
peach leaf syrup
sesame seed mousse
peach slivers layered like peonie petals
peach poach miroir

brioche
goat curd, minced rosemary, sel gris, orange blossom honey
caramelized blood oranges, raspberries
brunoise of raw rhubarb, nicoise olive oil
demerrera sugar

alphonso mango slivers
coconut toasted jasmine rice
vanilla bean sugar
coconut water caramel
fried taro
stolen kiss of fresh lime

The Bakers Dozen Turns 20 Years Old!!!!!!

What is now considered yesterday here in London is still considered Tuesday in California, so I have just a bit of time left to say HAPPY 20 YEARS OLD BAKERS DOZEN!!!!!

And what I would have said had I been there,

I love to bake as much as I love to learn about baking and love teaching baking. I am a better baker because of Bakers Dozen. I am a baker's baker because the Bakers Dozen exists. And for all of these gifts and graces, I am eternally grateful.

Because baking is a craft, and craftsmanship is gained through experience, and craftsman's guilds are set up for apprentices and sharing of knowledge, the Bakers Dozen is not only an invaluable group to be coveted, but an noun turned verb!

             Happy Happy Birthday Bakers Dozen!

We deserve to celebrate the heart and minds of all the bakers who make up our wonderful group. Cheers for the women who founded the Bakers Dozen, and all of us who have fed and been fed by its existence.

{I'm so sorry I missed the celebrations today, but I live a little far away now.}

Guinness Chocolate Cake. {the easiest cake. ever.}

My first chocolate cake, like my first kiss, was an unknown, but left me giddy and wanting more. 
My first chocolate cake, like my first kiss, was easier than I thought.
My first chocolate cake, like my first kiss, mixed hot weather and dark chocolate, and needed no major machinery.

And, like kisses, after The First chocolate cake, things got a little more complicated later.

They say baking is easier when you don't know a lot about baking. Innocent. Naive. Openhearted.

Guinness Chocolate Cake reminds me of My First Chocolate Cake. A few tools are all that's needed. And the recipe likes being toyed with. A little more of this and a dash of that works, or get tipsy and substitute one thing for another.

It's all good.

I spent a week testing a number of recipes I found on the www. I used spectacular ingredients and basic ones. I rearranged percentages and threw away the directions. I halved the sugar and tried various flours. I baked in bundt and tiny buttons. I used a convection/fan oven and big deck pizza ovens. I baked in metal and silicone. I baked them tall. I baked them shallow.

And this is what I found out:
The cake batter is really moist. And sticky. All the ingredients are there for a reason, even the ones that seem out of whack proportionally. I got the best results in silicone, filling the cups less than halfway. The batter is really energetic and loves making an absolute mess of your oven.* Sifting the flour is a must. Being able to whisk vigorously is also high on the list. Cake needs a lot of time to be by itself in the oven, without disturbances or else it will have a little terrible temper tantrum. See *

Do let me know what you find out about your version, if you and your cake come to any revelations.

If you want to know why I write recipes with the ingredient first, check out my post on Recipe Writing.

If you need this recipe in OUNCES, make converting your friend. We multiply 1 gram x 28.32 to get ounces. And Celcius x 1.8 +32 = Farenheit

GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

GUINNESS STOUT   1/2 can {about 250ml}
UNSALTED BUTTER   250 g
SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS   100 g

SUGAR   300 g
LIGHT BROWN SUGAR   100 g

SOUR CREAM   120 g
LARGE EGGS   2

ALL PURPOSE FLOUR   225 g
BAKING SODA   1 Tablespoon
SALT    pinch

• preheat oven to 185C
• generously butter and flour an 8 inch cake pan with a piece of parchment on the bottom, or line about 20 cupcake containers
• put wide mouthed pot of water on to boil
• in a wide stainless steel or glass bowl, measure in sliced butter
• on top of butter, measure in chocolate
• set bowl of ingredients over boiling water and lower heat on pot so that water is simmering only
• measure both sugars and salt in another bowl
• sift flour and baking soda and make 'well' in center. the bowl holding these ingredients should be wide and big and at the bottom of the well you should see the bowl
• as chocolate and butter melt, whisk to combine. add Guinness to melty mixture, whisk. when bowl of liquid is hot to the touch, add both sugars at once and whisk
• measure sour cream and eggs in a bowl and whisk to combine fully
• take chocolatey sweet stouty bowl of meltiness liquid and pour sour cream-egg mixture in, whisking as you pour
• take a deep breath
• in the next step you are first pouring then whisking, but not at the same time
• pour a little more than half of liquids into well of drys. WHISK FROM THE MIDDLE -- OUT, in concentric circles RAPIDLY. this is your moment of truth. you don't want lumps and the batter does
• when your batter looks like batter, and you still have a bit of flour clinging to the sides of your master big bowl, pour, INTO THE MIDDLE the rest of your liquid mass. whisk again from the middle - out, making sure to get every last bit of drys in there.
• take a drink
• pour your batter into prepared vessel(s) but make sure batter is not filling said container more than halfway!
• set this prepared pan on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper (your dishwasher will thank you later) and place in middle of preheated oven
• set first timer for 20 - 25 minutes and do not disturb cake until then
• your cake might take 10 - 25 minutes longer to bake fully. when the first timer goes off, open oven door slowly and slightly move baking vessel
• cake pan can be rotated ( = turned around so cake bakes evenly) when batter is beginning to set and cake is past the halfway mark
• test cake with skewer or very sharp knife inseted into center. when said object comes out of cake with crumbly bits or when you touch center of cake with your asbestos fingertips and cake bounces slightly back, cake is done
• cool on rack until vessel is warm. run knife around edge and turn out cake to cool the rest of the way

GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CAKE FROSTING
The Head, if you will~

SOUR CREAM   50 g
CREAM CHEESE   150 g  room temperature
ICING SUGAR   120 g
DOUBLE CREAM   125 g

• on a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth
• add rest of ingredients and mix until uniform
• taste for seasoning and add more of whaterver else you think it needs

When cake is cool, frost generously with frosting

Cake will keep for 4 days refrigerated & wrapped well. Frosting will keep for one week refrigerated in non-reactive container.

A few more Shuna hints:
I got the best results baking Guinness Chocolate Cake in silicone baking molds. About 20 minutes after taking cakes out of the oven, I placed silicone molds and all into freezer and turned cakes out after at least 2 hours. I kept cakes refrigerated until I frosted them and then asked the bakery not to keep them longer than one day.

This cake is amazing. Not least of all because beer takes on chocolate. Not many flavours can meet chocolate, shake hands, and both come out looking good. It's a really moist cake and eats well. I love how the top gets crunchy and ripply. If you turn Guinness Chocolat Cake upside down and frost the flat side, you get to have the crunchy top stay a fantasic texture.

I hope you'll keep this baby up your sleeve. It's dead easy.