I’m going to say something controversial: I used to not be a fan of chocolate cake. I know, I know, chocolate cake is one of the most beloved dessert icons of all time, and I respect that, but here’s the thing: Most of them come out dry and crumbly (seriously, why?). A chocolate dessert should represent what chocolate is: rich. I don’t want a cake to only taste like chocolate, I want to experience it like chocolate. The secret ingredient that turns this cake into a rich and decadent experience? Guinness. A favorite beer in Ireland, Guinness is a trademark dark, creamy stout that is rich and flavorful. Adding it to chocolate cake batter helps deepen the intensity of the chocolate flavor while providing extra richness and moisture to ensure the perfect chocolate cake of your dreams.
After working on this chocolate Guinness cake, I am now forever and ever a chocolate cake believer. Seriously—it makes me want to cry at how good this is. This rich, chocolatey classic is a staple for St. Patrick’s Day, but I honestly love it any time of year (let’s start normalizing chocolate desserts during the summer please). Here’s everything you need to know on how to make it the best it can be.
How To Make Chocolate Guinness Cake
INGREDIENTS
The Cake
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is essential here. This guarantees we’ll have the right amount of sugar in our cake.
- Guinness Stout: I’m using Guinness (of course), but you can also use a different brand if that’s what you have. Just make sure that it’s a dry stout.
- Eggs: Essential in a cake recipe, eggs will give us structure, binding all the ingredients together and will counterbalance that fudgy, dense center.
- Granulated Sugar: Sugar adds that necessary sweetness, helps retain moisture in the cake, and gives us a perfect crumb.
- Sour Cream: This gives a tender and moist crumb, and makes the overall texture rich.
- Vegetable Oil: Adding oil to the batter prevents a dry cake, making it last for longer than if made with butter.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla enhances the deep chocolate flavor. It’s not an essential ingredient, so if you run out of it, that’s okay!
- All-Purpose Flour: This creates the structure of the cake by forming gluten. I don’t recommend replacing it with any other kinds of flour, but you’re looking for some gluten-free cakes, I got you.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda produces gasses during baking, making this cake light.
- Salt: Salt is absolutely essential in any dessert. This will enhance the overall flavor of the chocolate, and will balance out the sweetness.
The Frosting
- Cream Cheese: It’s very important that your cream cheese is room temperature so that it whips properly.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Don’t replace it with granulated sugar. We need the confectioners’ sugar to dissolve properly when mixed in with the cream cheese.
- Vanilla Extract: This gives our frosting another layer of flavor that pairs perfectly with the cake.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350º, then grease a 9″ springform pan with baking spray or brush it with oil. Dust the pan with about 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder, and make sure to cover every corner with it. Then, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring your Guinness to a boil, and reduce it until you get 1 cup liquid. This can take 15 to 20 minutes, and you’ll have to let it cool completely before using. Good news: You can do this step ahead of time to make the process easier!
In the meantime, you’ll start working on your batter. In a large bowl, you’ll mix your eggs and sugar. Now, you can do this in a stand mixer or a handheld mixer—whatever works for you. On medium-high speed, beat these ingredients until the mixture becomes light and frothy, and when you lift the mixer, it should fall back slowly into the batter, keeping its shape for 2 to 3 seconds.
Now we’ll add our sour cream, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and Guinness, and beat until incorporated. No need to beat for a longer time like we did previously—at this point, we’ve already incorporated all the air that we need in the previous step.
Now, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to our bowl with the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula (not a machine). What we don’t want is to overwork the batter and mix it too much, so only mix until you don’t see any more of the dry ingredients in the batter. If you keep mixing after that, you’ll end up with a cake that’s tough and very deflated.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Test with a cake tester or wooden skewer before taking it out of the oven—it should come out mostly clean. When you remove it from the oven, let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes before opening it and removing the sides of the pan. After that, let it cool completely. You can transfer the cake to your desired serving plate with a large metal spatula.
While your cake is cooling down, we’re gonna work on our frosting. It’s so important to start with room-temperature cream cheese. This will allow the cream cheese to whip properly and become the light and fluffy frosting we’re looking for. Combine the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. With a handheld mixer or with your stand mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the ingredients for around 2 minutes. Transfer the frosting on top of the cake, and spread with an offset spatula until it’s evenly covered.
The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.
Recipe Tips
- Check the cake: When baking a new recipe, I always check the baked goods 5 minutes before the minimum baking time because, at the end of the day, every oven is different, and you just might not know how different it is. Before you take it out of the oven, just insert a wooden skewer or a cake tester into the center of the cake. It should come out mostly clean. Now, if the center is still jiggling, that means it needs more time!
- A sinking middle: If you notice that your cake sinks a bit in the middle, that’s okay. The great thing about this cake is that dense and fudgy center, so you should be happy to have it! Let it sink in.
Storage
When it comes to cake, the quicker you eat it, the better! You don’t want to wait more than a day after you bake it because it will lose some of its moisture and be a bit dryer.
You can also opt to make this ahead of time, wrap it in plastic wrap once cooled completely and freeze it for up to 1 month. Whenever you’re ready to use your cake, defrost in the fridge overnight.
