Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Irish Icing

Top of the mornin’ to ya! As Spring emerges, and we fight the urge to crawl back under our covers for warmth on these cold, frosty mornings, I thought it would be inspiring to bake up a cake. Not just any cake, but one that makes us hopeful, like Spring, happy like Whisky, and satisfied like a pint of Guinness. And this one has it all!

Use the best chocolate bar you can find, such as Chocolove with 70% cacao, for the best dense chocolate flavor. Have your Guinness room temperature, your butter soft, and allow your eggs sit out for an hour before adding to the batter. These tips will ensure a smooth, well combined batter for your cake.

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces Guinness Draught

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:

Grease and flour two 8” round cake pans. I like to line them with a sheet of parchment to ease removing the cake layers, once cooled. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 350°.

Beat together the butter and sugar in your standing mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla, soda, baking powder and mix well. Stir in chocolate and cocoa. Again, scrape down sides of bowl, and with mixer on low, add beer, and flour, mixing until just combined. Scrape bowl, and mix again, just until smooth. Divide the batter in half, pouring into the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick insert in the cake comes out clean.

INGREDIENTS FOR ICING:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

2-3 Tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

On the low speed of your standing mixer, combine all ingredients. Scrap down the sides and the beater. Beat on high for approximately 2 minutes, again scrapping down sides. Beat an additional minute. Consistency should be fluffy and light. Spread over the top of each layer of the completely cooled cakes. Stack the layers together. It helps to let the cake rest in the refrigerator now for 30-60 minutes. Then ice the sides of the cake. Roughly ice the top of the cake. I used the trimmings of the layers to produce crumbs to decorate the base layer.

I like to also make a quick ganache for serving. Combine in a glass measuring cup, equal parts of heavy cream with semi-sweet chocolate chips, 4 ounces of each will suffice. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Consistency should be runny. If necessary microwave for 10 seconds. Now you can use it to garnish your cake slices as you serve them. Wrap the unused ganache tightly with plastic and refrigerated for future use. (“Future use” might mean over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.) You can store the ganache in the refrigerator for a month, (if it last that long.)

Did you make this recipe??? Let us know how you enjoyed it!