For a holiday lunch or dinner entree, a Reuben panini sandwich served with a side and your favorite holiday beverage could make for a great Patty’s Day meal.

To finish off the main course, a cup of coffee and a slice of rich chocolate cake could be a great meal topper for the upcoming Patty’s Day holiday.

Chocolate and stout beer complement each other very well. A rich, dark chocolate cake with a silky buttercream icing is a chocolate lover’s dream dessert.

When you put chocolate and stout beer together, you get a great combination of subtle flavors. Adding a stout beer to the batter of your cake simply takes your cake to the next level and it’s fun to say that your cake has beer in it.

Chocolate Stout Cake

2 cups of all-purpose flour

¾ cup of cocoa powder, sifted after measuring.

1½ teaspoons of baking soda

½ teaspoon of kosher salt

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs (room temperature)

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup of grapeseed oil or safflower oil

10 tablespoons of unsalted butter

¾ cup whole buttermilk

¼ cup sour cream

1 cup of Guinness Draught Stout (or your favorite stout)

Sift together all the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl. Add sugar and whisk all together. In a small heavy bottom sauce pan, add your butter and beer.

Turn your pan on to medium to medium high heat until butter is melted and steaming. Take the mixture off the heat and add your cocoa powder. Whisk until fully dissolved. Pour the beer mixture into a medium bowl, set aside to slightly cool.

When the mixture is ready, add the oil, buttermilk and sour cream, and mix until smooth. Next add the eggs and vanilla, making sure the eggs are fully incorporated. Pour all the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk the batter until smooth.

Pour the batter into two 8-inch cake pans that have been lined with parchment paper if you wish. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit if you are using convection oven. Check your cakes for doneness when some crumbs stick to the toothpick. If you use conventional oven bake, then the temperature should be 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes. Allow your cakes to cool in the pan for a bit and then set them out of the pans to cool on your cooling racks.

Malted Chocolate Buttercream

2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

4 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

8 ounces of milk chocolate

¼ cup cocoa powder

2 tablespoons of malt powder

1½ cups of powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Sift all the dry ingredients together over a large bowl. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Let cool a little.

Cream the butter until smooth. Add dry ingredients a little at a time with your mixer on low until blended. Add the vanilla.

Mix all ingredients in your mixer until silky and frosting has taken shape and is ready to dress your cake.

Apply the buttercream as you wish and garnish with any toppings you wish.