Chocolate Skillet Cake

This decadent Chocolate Skillet Cake is an easy chocolate cake baked in an 8 inch cast iron skillet so the edges crisp up while the center remains soft and tender. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream for an indulgent treat.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day weekend! Are you going to wear green? Do you have Guinness shepherd’s pie planned for dinner?

I’ll be making corned beef and cabbage on the stove top with mini Irish soda bread on Sunday when family comes over to visit.

For dessert I’ll be baking up this Chocolate Skillet Cake with Guinness for an Irish twist.

It’s an easy cast iron cake that you can serve straight from the skillet. In fact you serve it warm so you don’t have to wait for it to finish cooling.

It doesn’t even need frosting! Just a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or Guinness ice cream (of course I certainly wouldn’t say no to adding some chocolate ganache on top).

I love pairing together stout beer and chocolate like I did with my Guinness brownies because the beer really enhances, much like how vanilla brings out other flavors.

Of course if you’re not a beer fan, you can easily use coffee which also brings out the chocolate flavor.

I’ve been wanting a cast iron skillet for the longest time and found this 8 inch cast iron beauty at an antique store for a good price.

It needed a little bit of TLC, so after learning how to restore a rusty pan and how to reseason it, it’s as good as new.

Making a chocolate cake in a skillet means this cast iron cake has crispy, caramelized edges while the middle remains soft and moist.

And because cast iron retains heat, your skillet chocolate cake stays nice and warm throughout dessert time.

Of course if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can make my chocolate stout cake in an 8 inch round cake pan.

The texture will be a bit different as the edges won’t crisp up, but it’ll still be quite delicious.

Ingredients For Chocolate Skillet Cake

Here’s what you need to make your chocolate cake in a skillet:

• Stout beer: The most common stout beer for St. Patrick’s Day is Guinness, but of course you can use any brand you’d like. If you don’t want to use beer, substitute coffee or milk.
• Butter: Fat needed for a moist cake
• Baking chocolate: Adds rich chocolate flavor while also keeping the batter moist
• Brown sugar: Adds a more caramelized flavor and extra moisture with the addition of molasses
• Sugar: Balances the sweeteness
• Cocoa powder: Adds a deeper chocolate flavor in addition to baking chocolate
• Egg: Adds structure to the cake
• Vanilla: Helps bring out the chocolate flavor
• Flour: Thickens the batter so the cake has structure while baking
• Baking soda and powder: Leavening agents so the cake rises
• Salt: Ensures the cake isn’t bland
• Chocolate chips: Adds extra chocolate gooeyness to every bite

How To Make Chocolate Skillet Cake

Here’s how to make your cast iron skillet cake:

• Melt together the beer, butter, and chocolate in a saucepan.
• Whisk in both sugars, cocoa powder, egg, and vanilla.
• Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.
• Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are set and toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs.
• Cool for 15 minutes before serving warm with ice cream or cool completely to room temperature.

Store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerate for up to 1 week.

How To Frost Chocolate Skillet Cake

Although your skillet chocolate cake doesn’t need frosting, you can certainly decorate it with chocolate frosting or chocolate cream cheese frosting.

You can also go a little lighter and garnish with chocolate whipped cream or homemade whipped cream.

More Skillet Dessert Recipes

Now that you own a cast iron skillet, here are more skillet desserts you can make:

• Toasted Coconut Cake
• Carrot Cake Skillet Cake
• Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Mini Skillet Cookie

First published March 17, 2016