Guinness Cake
Guinness Cake is a traditional Irish recipe for a classic rich chocolate cake made with Guinness that has a chocolate and Guinness topping and which is ideal for birthdays or St Patrick's day. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Valentine Milk Shake.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Serves:
10
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetarian RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesIrish Recipes
Guinness Cake: An Irish recipe for a chocolate cake made with Guinness that has a chocolate and Guinness topping and which is ideal for birthdays or St Patrick's day.
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
120g unsalted butter
300g muscovado sugar
2 medium eggs, well beaten
175g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
200ml Guinness (or other stout)
60g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
For the Icing:
120g dark chocolate
2 tbsp Guinness
60g butter
120g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp cream
30g walnuts, finely chopped
Method:
Begin with the cake: Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda into another bowl (do not omit the salt, this helps mellow the bitterness of the beer).
In another bowl, carefully whisk the Guinness into the cocoa powder until smooth. Now, working alternately, add the flour and Guinness mixtures to the creamed mixture.
Work all the ingredients together to form a batter, then divide evenly between two greased and lined 20cm diameter sandwich tins. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 30 minutes, or until nicely risen and browned on top. When done, a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake will emerge cleanly.
Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes have cooled, prepare the icing (frosting). Heat together the chocolate and Guinness in a bain-marie (double boiler) set over just barely simmering water. Beat in the butter until melted and add the cream. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly before beating in the icing sugar (you should end up with a just spreadable icing, if too stiff add a little more cream).
Mix the walnuts into 1/4 of the icing mixture and use this to sandwich the two cake halves together. Spread the remaining icing over the top of the cake. Garnish with walnut halves and chocolate shavings.
Allow the icing to harden before slicing into wedges and serving.
Find more St Patrick's Day Recipes Here.