My Guinness Chocolate cake is moist and chocolatey with a richness that is the perfect ending to your St. Patrick’s Day feast!
Don’t worry if you are not a fan of the dark stuff, the stout that is. Although this cake is spiked with Guinness, you will hardly notice it amongst all the chocolate. The cool tang of the cream cheese frosting tones down the sweet, but bold flavor of the cake.
Ironically I come from a long line of Irish bakers yet I really do not care for baking! My immigrant grandmother didn’t cook, much less bake and neither did my mom so we have no family recipes. When I decided to focus on Irish recipes leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, I contacted a number of cousins to see if they had any of the old recipes. They didn’t either so I researched this cake and this recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson.
The Method of Guinness Chocolate Cake
This is honestly the easiest cake I have ever baked. I highly recommend getting all ingredients portioned out and ready to go prior to baking. Once you start, it’s as easy as whisking 1-2-3!
Ingredients for the Cake:
- Guinness
- Butter
- Sugar
- Cocoa
- Eggs
- Sour Cream
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- and my secret ingredient…instant espresso
Ingredients for the Frosting:
- Heavy Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Confectioner’s Sugar
- Vanilla
To Make The Cake:
Whisk Guinness and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted.
Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar, cocoa and espresso mixture.
Next whisk in the egg, sour cream and vanilla mixture.
Lastly whisk in the flour, baking soda and salt mixture.
Whisk to combine, BUT don’t overmix.
Pour batter into a greased parchment paper lined spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the pan and frosting. Don’t forget a pretty cake stand to display your masterpiece!
To Make The Frosting:
Add heavy cream to a cold bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, mix the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Fold the heavy cream into the cream cheese mixture and dollop the frosting on top of the cake to look like the head of a pint of Guinness!
Cook’s Notes:
You can ramp up the earthy flavor by using brown sugar instead of white granulated sugar.
This cake is best eaten fresh, but you can freeze it. I would recommend only freezing the cake and frosting after thawing.
If you like this cake, you will love my Irish Cream Brownies!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I use a different type of beer? This beauty of this cake is that the bitterness of the stout marries perfectly with the chocolate making it not too sweet. I would stick to a stout, a variety of stout or a black lager. A craft peanut butter stout might be a tasty rendition!
Can I make this into cupcakes instead? Absolutely. Fill your cupcake tin to half full. Bake 15-20 minutes and check to see if a toothpick comes out clean. You may have to alter cooking times depending on your oven, size of cupcakes and how full you fill them. (I like big cupcakes and tend to fill them 3/4 of the way up!)
The Essentials:
 If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars!Â
Guinness Chocolate Cake
This cake is rich, moist and chocolatey and the perfect end to your St. Patrick's Feast!
- large saucepan
- mixing bowls
- measuring spoons
- Whisk
- 9" springform pan
- parchment paper
- hand mixer
- spatula
- cooking spray
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- vanilla, 1 tbsp for the cake and 1 tsp for the frosting
- 2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (salt)
- 1 cup Guinness Stout
- 10 tbsp butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 10 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup confectioner sugar
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare springform pan by cutting a piece of parchment to fit the bottom and spraying with cooking spray.
Combine sugar, cocoa powder and espresso in a mixing bowl.
Combine eggs, sour cream and 1 tbsp. vanilla in a second mixing bowl.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a third mixing bowl.
Add Guinness and butter to a saucepan and heat over medium until butter is melted. Remove from heat. Whisk in the first mixing bowl ingredients. When incorporated, whisk in the second mixing bowl ingredients. Follow with the third mixing bowl. Combine thoroughly, but do not overmix.
For the frosting:
Whip the heavy cream in a cold mixing bowl to stiff peaks. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, confectioners sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla,
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Dollop the frosting ono to look like the head of a pint of Guinness!
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