Why The World Would End Without Guinness Chocolate Cakes
This has to be one of my favourite chocolate cake recipes. It is very easy to make and always comes out amazing. It has a rich chocolate flavour but it’s not too sweet.The cake is moist with a velvety texture, kind of like a red velvet cake. Mmmm red velvet. Like velvet cake, this recipe uses sour cream to provide richness and moisture in the sponge.
This is the perfect cake to whip up last minute or something you can dress up for St. Patrick’s Day in March.Thanks to my Irish husband we always seem to have a can of Guinness lying around, and since this cake is so easy to make I can whip it up whenever I get a craving for a chocolate cake.
Jump to RecipeDoes the cake taste like Guinness?
Don’t worry if you aren’t a fan of Guinness because it tastes nothing like the black stout. Guinness imparts some light spicy and dark coffee notes to the cake. The stout also gives the cake some flecks of red in the sponge that makes it stand out from other chocolate cakes.
To Ice or not to Ice
You could have this cake without icing or you could top this cake with a sprinkle of icing sugar. Or my personal favourite, you could whip up some tasty whip cream with some icing sugar and vanilla to place on top, which makes the cake look like a pint of Guinness.
Some Notes On Baking The Cake
I have heard that when making this type of cake, the sponge has a tendency to sink after coming out of the oven. To prevent this, make sure your oven is at the correct temperature and that your ingredients are measured out correctly. I have always thought of baking as more of a science since ingredients are always interacting with each other and certain combinations create certain reactions. Always measure out your ingredients when baking.
Also, do not over mix your batter and always bake it right away. Don’t let the batter sit. I have had cakes where I can leave the batter out for a couple hours or so before baking it, but this is not that kind of batter. Again, the ingredients are reacting to each other and need to get into the oven right away so you don’t miss out on all the good things that come out of those interactions.
Lastly, don’t open your oven while baking and don’t underbake the cake. Use a knife or toothpick to test the cake and make sure it comes out clean.
Why The World Would End Without Guinness Chocolate Cake.
Why would the world end without Guinness Chocolate Cake? Well, it’s because it’s that good. Once you have it you will wonder how you went so long without having tried it. This recipe was adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe from her book Feast.
Guinness Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- 8 inch round spring form cake pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Guinness beer
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 2/3 cups sour cream
- 1 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
Whipped Cream Icing
- 1.5 cups whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Butter the sides of the spring form pan and line the bottom.
- Pour Guinness into a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add butter and heat until butter is melted.
- Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. Set aside.
- Combine sour cream, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until combined.
- Add Guinness mixture to sour cream mixture. Whisk to combine.
- Combine flour and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Whisk in flour mixture to wet ingredients. Do not over mix.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick or clean knife come out clean.
- Place on wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with icing sugar or top with whip cream icing (recipe below).
Whipped Cream Icing
- Place a the bowl of an electric mixer in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
- Take out the mixing bowl once the bowl is chilled. Add the heavy cream, icing sugar, and vanilla.
- Beat the ingredients in a on low speed, gradually increasing the speed to high.
- Beat until soft peaks form. Do not over-beat or you will end up with a sweet butter.
- Keep unused icing in the fridge.
I hope you get a chance to try it out. If you do leave a comment or find me and tag me on Instagram @cookiesancreamto
