Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Lounge 2011

I can’t believe it’s already a year since the last Black Circuit Lounge! Held in Le Marquee, Palace of The Golden Horses, the venue seemed much bigger this time.

So yeah, the air conditioning broke down. It came back intermittently during the entire duration of the party but after a while it really didn’t matter anymore. The music was good and I was dancing so much, a tornado couldn’t have cooled me down, hehe.

# – Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Lounge 2011.

Nothing much to say except that Johnnie Walker does throw the best parties, hands down. There was no shortage of drinks up till we left and finger foods were delicious. Love that they served up those delicious chocolate pralines to go with some Johnnie Walker.

Camho time!!!

# – Horng cracks me up!

# – With the BF/ST. Hugs not drugs.

# – Ah, still sober.

# – ST with Sam and a tipsy Kerol.

# – Nicholas, who always reminds me of Masuka from Dexter. Same perverted humour, seriously!

# – Kerol, going down….

# – Horng, KY and me. Slowly going down…

# – Horng & Yuki, Joshua & friend, BF and Me!

# – Celebrity spotted, Jojo Struys!

# – With Tian Chad. Superb photographer!

# – More happy people.

# – With my one and only top lady Michelle.

# – With spunky Wheylu, whom I love for she serves it as it is!

# – More happy people again – Yuki, Ringo, Horng, KY, Me and Kerol!

# – Lastly, me and ST again with kisses. MWAH MWAH.

What a party! We stayed there till the end, powered by Johnnie Walker in the bloodstream. SUPERB!

The chocolate, beer and yogurt cake with peanut butter frosting!

Otherwise known as Perfection.

Cause seriously, what is not perfect about a cake that combines the best of chocolate, beer, yogurt and wait for it, peanut butter in one whole package?

# – Perfection.

I adapted the recipe (originally called Chocolate Stout Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting) from Donna Hay’s 50th issue, where I replaced stout with lager, sour cream with yogurt and smooth peanut butter with chunky peanut butter.

I love this Donna Hay magazine! If you remembered, I also adapted a very successful chocolate buttermilk layer cake from it.

Anyway, this cake is fluffy and so moist (I suspect that’s the work of the yogurt) with a hint of beer and taste of the chocolate enhanced and heightened by the bitterness from the lager. With the very peanut-ty peanut butter frosting, each spoonful of cake is simply sublime…beautiful!

I particularly love eating it while watching an episode of Glee.

Everyone is bound to like either chocolate, beer, yogurt or peanut butter, so this cake is a sure-winner. If you know of anyone who doesn’t like either one of these…please let me know because I’d really love to shove a lightbulb down their throats because they need to lighten up!

Without further ado, lets see how perfection is attained…

For the cake:

  • 125 ml of beer
  • 115 grams of butter, chopped
  • 35 grams of cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 egg
  • 80 grams of plain yogurt
  • 150 grams of flour, sifted
  • 3/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda, sifted
  • 180 grams of caster sugar

For the frosting:

  • 160 grams of icing sugar
  • 280 grams of chunky peanut butter
  • 80 grams of butter, softened
  • 80 ml of whipping cream

# – First, heat up a pot and pour the beer into it.

# – Then, throw in the butter and stir till butter has melted.

# – Next, sift the cocoa powder into the beer butter mixture.

# – Whisk till all’s combined. Remove from heat and set aside.

# – Now, in a bowl, break an egg into the yogurt. I can’t stop staring at this picture. Egg yolk gazing should be adopted as a therapeutic treatment.

# – Whisk till they are completely combined. Set aside.

# – Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar too.

# – Now, pour the eggy yogurt mixture into the flour mixture…

# – Followed by the beery chocolaty buttery mixture.

# – Whisk till everything is combined. Now, you’ve got your cake batter!

# – Donna Hay said pour into a loaf pan but because I’m such a rebel, I poured it into a round cake tin lined with parchment paper. Whatever works for you, I say. Stick it into a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 1 hour 10 minutes or till cooked (stick a skewer into the cake and pull it out, if there’s no sticky bits means it’s done).

# – When the cake is done, turn it out to cool completely. I’m sorry I’ve got a cracked cake but I prefer to look at it as maximum frosting absorption!

# – Now, it’s time for my favourite part. Frosting!!! Dump the icing sugar, peanut butter and butter into a mixing bowl.

# – Beat till all are combined and creamy.

# – Then, pour in the whipping cream.

# – Beat again till it’s fluffy and creamy and yummy.

# – Set cake and frosting side by side like this. (Okay you don’t really have to do this exactly.)

# – Lay the frosting onto the cake and frost the heck out of it!

# – The chocolate, beer, yogurt and peanut butter cake A.K.A Perfection, DONE!

# – In the background is how the original cake is supposed to look like but I prefer mine obviously because I have more frosting, teeheehee.

I kept the cake in the fridge for about a week and it still tasted so delicious! As the BF said, “this is the kind of good that can’t be bought outside”. Make it happen!