How to make the ultimate beer cake

For beer lovers, there can never be too much beer. Beyond drinking it, we find other excuses to add it to, well, everything we can – beer can chicken, mac ’n’ cheese, chili, ribs, wings. You get the idea. So when we have a chance to add it to dessert, we do.

Take this beer cake. “Use a lovely dark, full-flavored beer that will show up well,” recommends writer Tessa Kiros, who includes the recipe in her book on Portuguese cuisine, “Piri Piri Starfish: Portugal Found.” Cheers indeed.

BEER CAKE

Total time: 1 1/2 hours | Serves 12

Note: Adapted from “Piri Piri Starfish.” Kiros writes: “Use a lovely dark, full- flavored beer that will show up well in your cake. I used acacia honey and you can use other nuts instead of walnuts, if you prefer.”

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

7 ounces (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) dark beer, such as stout

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup honey

2 2/3 cups cake flour

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch grated nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9 1/2 -inch springform or cake pan.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, until fully incorporated. Beat in the milk, beer and lemon zest, then whisk in the honey. The batter will look separated at this point, but will come together when the dry ingredients are added.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, then whisk into the wet ingredients.

4. Gently fold in the nuts and lightly spoon the batter into the pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes if using a regular cake pan, or 45 to 50 minutes if using a springform, until dark golden and a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool for 10 minutes before turning out.

Each serving: 363 calories; 5 grams protein; 50 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 16 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 83 mg. cholesterol; 167 mg. sodium.

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