Chocolate Guinness cake

Chocolate Guinness cake

I was always going to love this combination because I’m a huge Guinness and ale fan.

It may sound a bit odd, but the Guinness provides extra depth of flavour and also moistens the cake.

You can’t taste the beer as such, but there is certainly something a bit different to the usual chocolate base cake.

I topped mine with cream cheese icing to provide a bit of tartness, but also love the fact that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

You can use dark ales as well if you prefer such as in Tom Kerridge’s chocolate and ale cake.

I noticed that Tom’s uses cocoa as well as melted chocolate which is something I’d like to test as well.

Another great recipe is John Whaites’ Guinness and black battenberg using blackcurrant jam to sandwich the cake together and recreate this classic drink.

Chocolate Guinness cake (Hummingbird Bakery recipe)

• 250ml (9fl oz) Guinness
• 250g (9oz) unsalted butter
• 80g (3oz) cocoa powder
• 400g (14oz) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 140ml (5fl oz) buttermilk
• 280g (10oz) plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 50g (1¾oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 300g (10½oz) icing sugar
• 125g (4½oz) full-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)
• Cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F)/gas mark 3, then line the base of the tin with baking parchment.
2. Pour the Guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and gently heat until it has melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cocoa powder and sugar into the warm liquid. Mix together the eggs, vanilla essence and buttermilk by hand in a jug or bowl, and then add this to the mixture in the pan.
3. Sift together the remaining sponge ingredients into a large bowl or into the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer. Using the mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric whisk, set on a low speed, pour in the contents of the pan. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool, and then remove from the tin on to a wire rack, making sure the cake is cold to the touch before you frost it.
5. Using the electric whisk or the freestanding mixer with paddle attachment, mix the butter and icing sugar together until there are no large lumps of butter and it is fully combined with the sugar in a sandy mixture. Add the cream cheese and mix in a low speed, then increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
6. Place the cooled cake on to a plate or cake card and top generously with the cream cheese frosting. The cake can be decorated with a light dusting of cocoa powder.