I made this Chocolate Stout Cake for a St. Patrick’s Day party, and it was a hit with kids and adults alike.

For reasons I do not understand, I didn’t read through the headnotes and recipe before I started. If I had, I would have known to start with the stout/butter/cocoa powder mix, and then let that cool while I continued with everything else. That would have saved a little time, but it’s not really necessary.

I skimmed through the comments while it was in the oven, and saw that for at least a couple of folks, the cake wasn’t done at 35 minutes, that in some cases it needed up to an hour. I checked it at 35 and sure enough it wasn’t done. I put it in for another 10 and that did the trick.

I also saw a few comments about the cake sticking in the pan and only coming out in pieces. There is a note in the recipe itself about greasing the bundt pan well, so I had coated it with melted butter and then dusted it with flour (should have used cocoa powder but I wasn’t about to wash out the pan and do it over).

I made the cake the evening before the party, so that I didn’t have to worry about timing things to give it enough time to cool before I topped it with the ganache. So, that worked out well for me because I had plenty of time for it to cool completely. I left it in the pan until just before I went to bed, and then tried to flip it out onto a cutting board with no luck. I left it upside down overnight figuring it’d either free itself or not. And it did! It released beautifully but you really do need to let it cool for several hours.

Deb mentions in the recipe that she’d cut the original ganache down by 75% and even so, it’s too much. The proportions were easy to play with so I decided to do half of the original amount. Except I measured out twice as much heavy cream as needed, so once the chocolate melted it was confusingly thin. It did not start to thicken up at all when I took it off the double boiler, and that’s when I realized what I’d done. I threw in more chocolate and then had a better consistency.

I decided to let the ganache cool a bit before I topped the cake, so I just set it on the counter and stirred frequently to keep a skin from forming and monitor the consistency. Then I spooned it over the cake and tried to make sure it didn’t all drip into the middle. I topped the cake on the platter so the excess could pool, but if you don’t like the look you can put it over a rack on a baking tray and then move it. In the end I had what I think was just the right amount of ganache, so if you make this, make the amount Deb calls for. But let it cool a bit, so it’s moving slower and won’t all run right off the cake.

The cake is light and moist. It’s very chocolately, but even with the ganache I didn’t find it to be too rich. There was one small piece left that we took home. It sat on the platter very loosely wrapped with plastic wrap (and a kitchen towel to keep the cats away, as the wrap didn’t quite cover the whole platter). That piece was still moist and delicious 48 hours after the cake was baked. This is something for your make-ahead files for sure. It’ll keep well on the counter, just make the ganache the day you plan to serve it.

We like broccoli around these parts and so the Pasta with Longer-Cooked Broccoli captured my interest when Deb posted it recently(ish). Despite the timing she gives (45 minutes) it is very weeknight friendly and eminently prep-able. In fact I recommend that you prep everything before you turn on the heat, because the first few steps move fast. You’ll also want to pay close attention so you don’t burn the garlic, which can happen in a flash. This is one of those times to cook with your senses and not with your timer.

I made this in my dutch oven so I’d have plenty of room to stir. But it holds a lot of heat, so in addition to being very attentive I adjusted the heat down once when I added the lemon juice & etc., which I did as soon as I saw a couple of small pieces of garlic starting to brown.

My other recommendation is to use a pasta brand and shape you’re familiar with so you can manage the time without worrying. Pasta always cooks faster for me than what the packages say, so I did my usual pasta routine, which is to check it at 5 minutes. In this case it was extremely al dente, so I let it go for two more and it was slightly beyond al dente, but not by much.

This was a very tasty dinner and the pasta and broccoli ratio was pretty perfect. We had the Crispy Chili Garlic Butter Shrimp with this, so I think we’ll get at least 4 servings from it. This would work really will as a vegetarian one-pot meal, but if you also want to have some protein, you could throw in a can of drained white beans while the pasta is finishing up, or do a simple baked chicken or fish.