Manly Stinky Cheese Cake

Since it's Movember and all of you peppy people are baking some freakishly manly cupcakes for the Manly Cupcake Challenge, we thought we'd help you out by providing you with a bit of inspiration. So, all this month, we hope to share some wonderfully butch recipes that really represents a classic Mo. This weekend, we want to pay tribute to the Canadian Grandfather of all Mos:

The Voyageur

In case you're a little rusty on your Canadian history (I'm looking straight at you, America), voyageurs were real rough-and-tumble manly men who made lumberjacks look like girl scouts. These French Canadians traveled thousands and thousands of miles throughout the provinces and were expected to work at least 14 hours a day, paddle 55 strokes per minute, and carry at least 180 pounds of pelts and goods across rugged terrain. If Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bear Grylls had a child, it may just be awesome enough to become a voyageur.

So what cake could be manly enough to satisfy the intense appetite of a voyageur? It had to have that same spirit which can only be found within Quebecois cuisine. When I think of Quebecois cuisine, I think of two things:


Yep. Soft cheese and over-fermented beer. Super. Yum. And definitely manly. But in a cake? Oh yes. Unbelievably yes. 
Be warned, though - the cheese (as Mr. C put it) smells like a men's washroom. And the beer hits you like a tonne of bricks. But, within a chocolate cake, the flavours really sing. When you take a bite, you know that this cake is different - but you can't quite tell why. Then you want more. And suddenly, after finishing your second piece, you start to feel like you could paddle up the St. Laurence River with nothing but your trusty Mo and beaver pelt to keep you warm. And that, my friends, is the Voyageur Stinky Cheese Cake. Mais Oui!

The Voyageur Stinky Cheese Cakeadapted from the cupcake project
Makes one, 9-inch cake.

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
4 oz (one stick) cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 Cup Quebec triple-fermented beer (La Fin du Monde)
1/4 C milk
1/2 cup soft, stinky Quebec cheese (Oka), melted

1) Grease your 9-inch cake pan and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

3) Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until soft and fluffy. Incorporate the eggs, one at a time. Stir in half the dry ingredents, and then add the milk and beer together. After you've almost incorporated everything, add the rest of the dry ingredients and the cheese.

4) Pour into cake pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Leave out to cool before adding ganache.

Stinky Cheese Ganache
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
4 oz soft stinky cheese, cubed
1/4 cup sugar
3 oz heavy whipping cream

1) In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Add the cheese and mix continuously until it is melted. Mix in the sugar.

2) Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the cream until smooth. Pour over cooled cake and let set in the fridge for about an half hour. Serve with extra whipped cream.

Colonel Cupcake wants you to remember that you have until the 20th of November to enter our Manly Cupcake Challenge! Get baking, people!