Guinness Chocolate Cake

A while back, I discovered a recipe for a dense chocolate cake made from one of my favourite beers: Guinness Stout. Yep, you read that right. The rich and creamy beer can be used for other things that don't involve getting drunk! I've hung on to the recipe, hoping to tackle it for St. Paddy's Day one year (or a random family dinner). I finally won the honour of making dessert for family dinner and decided that since it's so close to St. Patrick's Day, it would be a perfect time to make it.

If you live in Ontario, you'll probably find Guinness at the LCBO in a four-pack. You only need one can for this recipe, but have no fear: the four pack will come in handy for those who find baking less-than-exciting. Like me. With ingredients in hand, Guinness in a glass, and Springsteen on the radio, I got to work. Let's do this!

FYI: Plate + candle holder = cake stand.

Guinness Chocolate Cake
For the cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup Guinness Stout (I used nearly 2 cups, but whatever)
• 3/4 sifted cocoa
• 2 and 1/4 flour, sifted
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the icing:

• 1 and 1/3 cup cream cheese
• 1 and 1/2 cup icing (powdered)sugar, sifted
• 2/3 cup cream, whipped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Add butter, cocoa, and Guinness to a saucepan and heat on medium and stir until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Pour in Guinness/butter/cocoa mix. Add vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Beat with mixer for a few minutes, until thick and even in colour.

Pour batter into a greased and lined angel food pan (I cut strips of parchment paper to wrap around the insides). Bake for one hour. Check "doneness" by inserting a skewer/toothpick after one hour - your skewer should come out clean (a few crumbs on the skewer is acceptable). You don't want a dried out cake, so use your judgment!

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes or so before removing it from the pan and cooling.

If not already done, whip your cream with the electric mixer until fluffy (about 2 minutes). In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until free of lumps. Slowly add the icing sugar to the cream cheese and mix for a few minutes, until smooth. You may need to scrape the bowl to combine fully.

Gently fold the previously whipped cream into the cream cheese/icing sugar mixture until evenly mixed. Spread the finished icing on the top of the completely cooled cake. Do not extend the icing to the sides of the cake - just on the top! It should now resemble a deliciously dark pint of Guinness. Yum!!

For a little extra kick, you might want to drizzle some Bailey's or Carolan's Irish Cream liqueur across the top of the cake.

Crumbled 70% dark chocolate is sprinkled on top for a little crunch - and, because I really like chocolate.