March makes me think of St. Patrick’s Day which makes me think of Guinness.

Guinness in a cake? Definitely.

This Guinness Chocolate Cake With Cream Cheese Icing is a pure revelation. The beer enhances the rich chocolate flavor. The cake is moist, not too sweet and marries perfectly with the tangy icing.

If you like this recipe, try these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes With Whiskey Ganache And Baileys Cream Cheese Icing. The cake is the same rich chocolate, but gets joined with some whiskey and Baileys. Perfect.

Guinness Chocolate Cake With Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

250g/1 cup and 2 Tbs unsalted butter
250 ml/1 cup Guinness Stout
75g/3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa, sifted
275g/2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp baking soda
400g/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
150ml/2/3 cup sour cream
1 Tbs vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Icing (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180℃/350℉.

2. Combine butter, cocoa and Guinness in a saucepan. Warm over medium heat and stir until butter is melted. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

3. Mix flour, baking soda and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

4. Pour Guinness mixture into flour mixture, lightly combine, then add the vanilla, eggs and sour cream. Beat until well combined.

5. Pour batter into a greased and lined 10 inch angel food pan or springform pan.

6. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it. Don’t allow cake to dry out.

7. Let cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the cake tin and placing on a wire wrack to cool completely.

8. Place cooled cake on a cake stand and spread top with icing. Don’t go over the sides of the cake since you want the cake to resemble a poured pint of Guinness on tap.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

300g/1 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
150g/1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
150ml/2/3 cup cream, whipped

Directions:

1. Place cream cheese into bowl of a stand mixer and beat on a low-medium speed using a whisk attachment. Whip until the cheese is smooth and there are no big lumps remaining.

2. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream until fully combined.

Recipes from Design Sponge

Ireland is the music destination today, specifically with some yummy indie-pop from Biggles Flys Again. Go ahead and tap your toes. It’s almost impossible not to.

Check out Biggles Flys Again on the band’s Website, where you can link to buy their music.

Sláinte!