Chocolate Stout Cake

• It's best to make this cake over the course of two days, to allow the cake to chill completely.

Chocolate Stout Cake

• Heat your oven to 375F. Line 3 8" round cake pans with parchment paper, and set aside.
• Start by sifting together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Combine the stout and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, blend together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending fully between each one. Add the sour cream, and blend until smooth.
• Begin adding the flour mix and stout mix to the butter, alternating between the wet and dry. Mix well between each addition.
• Divide the batter between the 3 pans. Bake for about 30-35minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Allow to cool slightly in the pans. Then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once room temperature, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. This makes the cakes much much easier to work with.

Brown Butter Frosting

• Start by browning the butter. Place the whole pound of butter into a small sauce pan over medium low heat and melt it.
• Once its fully melted, increase the heat just slightly, until the butter is simmering gently. Allow it to simmer until it has deepened in colour to a rich nutty brown. Stir it occasionally to bring up the bits from the bottom so they don't burn. The whole process can take about 30 minutes.
  
• Transfer the brown butter to a glass measuring cup and allow to cool and thicken. This can take the better part of the day, so you can speed it up by putting it in the fridge and stirring it every so often. You don't want it hard, because you still need to whip it into frosting.
• Once the butter is thickened, add it to a large mixing bowl. Whip it until it gets a bit pale and fluffy.
• Very slowly, so as not to make a mess, begin adding the powdered sugar. Add one cup at a time, and blend between each. It will begin to get too thick, that when you start adding milk as well, one Tbsp at a time. The result should be a thick but easily spreadable frosting, flecked with little brown butter bits.

Hazelnut Praline

• Heat the oven to 400F.
• Spread the hazelnuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in the oven until golden brown. You really want to line the baking sheet with parchment, because you'll be pour hot caramel onto it later.
• Put the sugar in a small heavy bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat. Allow it to fully melt.
• Let the sugar cook until it is a deep caramel colour. If you have a candy thermometer, you want it to reach the Hard Crack stage.
• When the hazelnuts are done, have a wooden spoon at the ready. Very carefully, but quickly, pour the caramel over the hazelnuts, and stir them until they are all coated. The caramel will start to cool fast, so you may not be able to coat all the nuts fully, but that's okay. Spread them as flat as possible and allow them to cool completely. It will look like brittle.
• Once cooled, Transfer the brittle to a food processor, and pulse a few time until you get coarse praline. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months in the pantry.

White Chocolate Drips

• Combine the white chocolate and milk in a microwave safe bowl.
• Heat at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted and combined. Add in any colours you'd like now.
• Place in the fridge to cool for several hours. It should be pourable but thick.

Assembly

• Put a dot of icing on the center of a cake board or serving plate.
• Lay on the first cake layer. Cover the top of it in a layer of icing, topped with a thin layer of praline. Lay the next cake layer on top and repeat the icing and praline. Top with the final cake layer. Putting the top cake piece on upside down helps make the top of the cake nice and flat.
• Ice the crumb coat of icing. This means, using only a small amount of the icing, ice a very thin layer all over the cake. This layer of icing catches all the crumbs from the cake and will look messy. Put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill before continuing.
• When the crumb coat is nice and cold, ice the final coat, setting aside about a cup of icing. Smooth the top and edges with a bench scraper or pallet knife.
• Using a piping bag, pipe the last cup of icing around the bottom of the cake to hold your "river rocks" in place. Then arrange the chocolate pebbles all around the bottom. Put the whole cake into the fridge to allow the icing to set fully.
• Using a spoon, gently spoon the chocolate drip mixture over the top of the cake and push it over the edges to let it drip down into the pebbles. Top the cake with a big mound of berries, and sprinkle the pebbles with glittery sprinkles. (If you want the drizzle to look like glittering water)
  
• Chill the whole cake before serving.