Guinness Brownies

I must confess to never having tried Guinness before but I recently attended a food and beer matching course which ended with a dark stout and chocolate cake combination. These together are a match made in heaven. Later the next day whilst doing the laundry I was flicking through an old Woman's Day Magazine when I came across a recipe for a sort of Black & White Brownie and I was struck by inspiration-Guinness brownies, but not just brownies with Guinness but black and white brownies like a pint of Guinness.

Guinness Brownies

Makes about 24

DARK LAYER
100g butter
100g dark chocolate
2/3cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup Guinness

1.   Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave (be careful with the white chocolate as it burns easily).

2.   Allow to cool slightly before mixing in the eggs and then the sugar. Add the Guinness then fold in the flour.

3.   Pour the mixture into the tin (I use a square silicone tray or a lined tray for ease of removal) and cooked it for about 5 mins at 160°C just to allow the top to dry slightly before adding the white layer.

WHITE (HEAD) LAYER

100g butter

100g white chocolate

2/3cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup sour cream

4.   Make the white layer in the same way as the dark layer. Just be careful with the white chocolate as it has a tendency to burn.

5.   Pour the white layer over the dark layer and return to the oven.

6.   Cook for approx. 30mins at 160°C

7.   Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into squares

Once the cake had cooled I topped it with melted white chocolate just to make it extra naughty and give it a definite white ‘head’.

So tell me, what do you think of matching food with beer and have you ever tried cooking with beer?