It’s no secret that one of my favourite things to do is to bake (apart from travelling, of course). With St Patrick’s Day around the corner, I thought it was only appropriate to bring the Irish spirit to my kitchen in the form of a cake. And what’s more Irish than Guinness beer?
This dark chocolate Guinness cake recipe is a mix of Nigella Lawson’s original recipe and Garrett McCord’s lovely additions of dark brown sugar and cream cheese topping. I’ve changed it a little bit by using double cream and lemon juice for a tangier flavour. This highlights the richness of the cocoa and beery sponge perfectly, making it the best Guinness cake recipe possible. This cake is dark, moist, delicious and easy to bake and it’s perfect for fighting the afternoon munchies!
If you’re looking for the ultimate pint of Guinness in the shape of a cake, you’ve come to the right place…
Chocolate Guinness Cake
- V
Nutrition per portion
- Calories 529
- Fat 27.2g
- Saturates 16.9g
- Protein 7.2g
- Carbs 69.3g
- Sugars 47.7g
- Salt 1g
- Fibre 2.5g
Ingredients
- 250ml Guinness Extra Stout
- 250g Unsalted butter
- 75g Cocoa powder
- 300g Caster sugar
- 100g Dark brown soft sugar
- 2 Eggs (optional: free range)
- 150ml Double cream
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Pure vanilla extract
- 275g Plain flour
- A pinch of salt
- 2 ½ tsps Bicarbonate of soda
- Creamy topping: 50g Unsalted butter, 90g Philadelphia Lightest soft cheese, 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract, 150g Icing sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF (Fan).
- Butter a 9 inch springform cake tin well, lining the bottom with a greaseproof paper. This will prevent your chocolate Guinness cake from sticking to the tin later!
- In a large saucepan, add the Guinness and the unsalted butter (in slices). Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the butter has melted.
- While still on the heat, add the cocoa powder, caster and dark brown sugar to the mix. Stir well, making sure all the products have mixed together into a nice brown, buttery mix.
- Take off the heat and allow the mixture to cool at room temperature.
- In a separate large bowl, mix the double cream, lemon juice, eggs and vanilla extract together. Using an electric mixer or whisk, beat well until smooth, making sure there are no lumps. Proceed to add to the buttery mix.
- Fold in the flour, and add the salt and bicarbonate of soda to the mix. Once again, whisk well until you’re left with a nicely smooth batter.
- Pour the Guinness cake mixture into the buttered springform tin evenly. Remember it will rise!
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60min. Feel free to leave it longer if it’s still not completely baked (use a toothpick to check). Avoid cooking for too long, as this is a moist cake and you don’t want it to be too dry.
- In the meantime, make the cream cheese topping by mixing together the remaining butter, Philadelphia cream cheese, pure vanilla extract and icing sugar in a small bowl. Whisk well until you’re left with a smooth cream.
- When ready, take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool completely in the springform tin before adding the topping. This will prevent the frosting from melting over the cake!
- Once cooled and the creamy topping has been added, release the chocolate Guinness cake from the tin, slice and enjoy!
That wasn’t that difficult, was it? If you have some leftover mixture and don’t want your cake to overflow, you can always use it to make some chocolate Guinness cupcakes on the side.
For a more even finish when adding your icing, you can always cut the top of the cake off slightly (like I did). The cream cheese topping combined with the rich cocoa and beery sponge is just out of this world. I can guarantee you’ll devour it within just a couple of days. One can only but hope it will last longer! And, if you’d like to freeze it instead, make sure it doesn’t have any icing on to avoid making it soggy. This lovely Irish Guinness cake can be kept in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks.
Have you baked a chocolate Guinness cake before? Do you follow a different recipe? Let me know if you give this one a go! If you really loved this easy chocolate Guinness cake recipe please leave us a comment and show us some love on social media, using the buttons below.
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Yum! This sounds so nice! I only tried Guinness for the first time on my 30th birthday in Dublin and quite liked it! I imagine the combination of Guinness and chocolate is so tasty and I absolutely love cream cheese too! This sounds like a delicious cake, thank you for sharing the recipe! <3 xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
Thanks Bexa! I am not a beer fan myself but I absolutely love this cake! It’s incredibly rich and the cream cheese topping adds the perfect touch to the sponge. I hope you give it a go and love it as much as I do! x
I am not a beer fan but this looks delicious. Will definitely try it.
Hi Janja – it actually does not taste very beery at all, but rather chocolatey! The strong beer flavour evaporates when the cake bakes, leaving it with a rich buttery consistency instead 🙂 I am sure you will love it x
Oh my gosh, this looks delicious! I know Guiness is quite heavy, do you taste that in the cake?
Not at all! A large proportion of the alcohol evaporates while baking the cake, and you also have the cocoa and sugar to make it sweet! It is quite a heavy cake in terms of butter and sugar instead, as it requires quite a bit to keep the cake moist. x
This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing. It may become a new tradition to bake it at our house on St. Patrick’s Day. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Robin – it’s become a tradition in our house for sure, I hope it does at yours as well! x
Oh, I love a good chocolate Guinness cake! I usually use the Nigella version, but I think I will be giving your version with the twist a go; it sounds delicious!
Thanks for sharing!
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
Thanks Aimsy, I absolutely love Nigella’s version! Sometimes just little twists can give the recipe a nice touch and make it a bit more personal too! x
“don’t click on the link don’t click on the link…damn it” 🤣🤣🤣 now I have to try this recipe!
You do! x
Hi Gratsiela. Well, (cover your ears Irish people!) I’ve never been a fan of Guinness as a drink. However, perhaps including it in a chocolate cake will convert me. It sounds delicious.
Hi Richie! I am not a fan of beer myself, but I can assure you Guinness tastes amazingly in a chocolate cake! x
Great recipe, it looks delicious
Thanks for sharing
https://uncuaderno4cero.wordpress.com/
Thank you!
I’ve never actually tried Guinness before so I wouldn’t have any idea what it would taste like in a cake! But this does look delicious though. Very chocolaty and I am HERE for it! The perfect recipe for St Patrick’s Day for sure! xxx
Thank for the lovely comment, Jenny! You can’t really taste the alcohol, but it does provide a lot of flavour to the cake! If you love dark chocolate, this is the cake for you x
This is the second Guinness cake recipe I’ve read this week and it still surprises me that it’s used in cakes. However, it does sound and look really good!
Thanks Della! Guinness goes incredibly well with dark chocolate, and makes the cake not only much nicer, but also creamier! I would absolutely recommend trying this Guinness cake – you won’t regret it! x
This looks so lovely! I never thought to put beer in cakes.
Awe thank you! The Guinness evaporates and provides a lot of flavour to the cake. Definitely worth trying it!
Wow now this is right up my street. I love a Guinness and I really miss the pub. This cake sounds decadent and delish!
Rosie
Thanks Rosie! It’s really easy to make too – let me know if you try it! x
It’s also no secret that you make the easiest-to-follow recipes! Specific. Never tried the guinness cake but it looks so delicious. Something far from what I usually try here in the Philippines. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.lifebeginsattwenty.com
Thank you! Definitely worth trying, it’s a delicious cake!
I’ve literally only tried Guinness once when I was eighteen and I feel like a fake Irish person just admitting this – Hop House 13 is my favourite beer though and it’s made in the same brewery so I think that sort of redeems it! I’ve never thought of putting it in a cake but I can imagine it tastes great! The perfect treat for St Patrick’s Day!
Thanks for the comment Alice! I’m not a Guinness fan myself, but it makes this cake so much creamier and tastier! Let me know if you give it a go x
What an awesome cake !!! Perfect to celebrate St. Patrick. I’m going to buy the ingredients right away to try it tonight! Thanks for sharing
Thank you! I hope you liked it and that you had fun baking it! x
Ooft that looks beautiful! I need to figure out a way to make it lactose free but it looks amazing.
Cora | https://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Thank you, Cora! I haven’t tried using dairy-free products for this particular recipe myself, but I’d suggest giving it a go as there are some very good lactose-free butter and double cream options out there!
I haven’t had Guinness before, but this cake looks delicious & I love chocolate so I imagine it would taste good too! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Karalee! Try it, you won’t be disappointed!