In Our Recipe Box: Guinness Chocolate Cake

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day just around the bend and to celebrate our first recipe post, we thought a cake recipe was in order. Not just any cake, mind you. A Guinness Chocolate Cake that is the perfect combo of decadence, whimsy and, well, Guinness that St. Paddy’s calls for. Once you try this cake it may just become a St. Patrick’s Day tradition . . . it did for us!

Slainte!

 

Guinness Chocolate Cake

Recipe by Katie Quinn Davies via Design Sponge

Cake Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup Guinness
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa, sifted
• 2 +  1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups  sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp. good quality vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 + 1/3 cup cream cheese
• 1+1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 2/3 cup cream, whipped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

1. Add butter, cocoa and Guinness to a saucepan. Warm over a medium heat and stir until melted. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to cool slightly.
2. Add flour, baking soda and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Pour in the Guinness/cocoa/butter mixture, lightly combine, add the eggs and sour cream and beat everything together until well combined. The batter should be thick and dark chocolate in color.
3. Pour into a greased and lined 10″ angel food pan (or another straight-sided tube pan) and cook in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.*Note: Start checking for doneness after 1 hour. This cake is very moist inside, so use your judgment regarding the skewer test. Do not leave in the oven until the cake has totally dried out — cook long enough so there is no uncooked cake on the skewer but there may be a few moist crumbs sticking to it after an hour of cooking.
4. Leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the cake tin and placing on a wire wrack to cool completely.

Frosting Instructions

1. Place the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer and beat on a low-medium speed using a whisk attachment. Whisk until the cheese is smooth and there are no big lumps remaining.
2. Gradually, using a large spoon, add in the sifted powdered sugar and beat gently to combine. After 2 to 3 minutes, stop the machine, scrape any excess frosting from the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed until lump free.
3. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream, mixing to fully combine.
4. Place cooled cake on a cake stand and add the frosting, spreading out just to the edge without going over the side (never go over the sides of the cake) until the cake resembles a pint of Guinness