Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Frosting
My secret party trick is always bringing the very best dessert to a party. And come St. Patrick’s Day, this is the dessert that our dinner hosts expect to see year after year. It’s so incredibly good and quite festive and also easy to throw together. I love a Guinness chocolate cake because the addition of the dark stout beer gives the most wonderful texture and while you don’t taste the alcohol, you get a bit of a rich, malty flavor which is the perfect compliment to the cocoa in the cake.
Why make this Chocolate Guinness Cake?
- It is full of rich chocolate flavor highlighted by the addition of the Guinness Stout.
- The Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting is truly to die for and is the perfect combo with the chocolate cake
- It’s not only delicious but exceptionally festive.
- You can make it in advance, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate.
- The Chocolate ganache gives the cake even more moisture and a creamy chocolate layer.
- It’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!
Ingredients needed:
- Guinness Beer (or a different stout if you prefer)
- Unsalted butter at room temperature
- Unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch-process)
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Eggs
- Greek yogurt or sour cream
- Chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate bar
- Heavy cream
- Vanilla extract
- Irish Whiskey
- Cream cheese, room temperature
- Powdered sugar
- Bailey’s Irish Cream or other Irish Cream Liqueur
Supplies needed for this cake:
- Cake pan: You can either use: 1 9 inch springform Pan, 2 8 inch round cake pans or a 9-10 cup capacity bundt pan
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium bowl (for dry ingredients and icing)
- Parchment paper for lining round pans if using
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment
- Medium saucepan for the ganache
How to make this cake:
- Prepare your cake pan by greasing the sides and bottom with butter and dusting with flour. If using 8 inch pans, line with parchment as well.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the dry ingredients. Set aside.
- In a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl) cream together the eggs and yogurt on medium-high speed until smooth.
- Add the butter chocolate mixture slowly until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients on low until *just* mixed. Use a spatula to finish mixing by hand, don’t over-mix- you just want to make sure there are no clumps or streaks.
- Pour cake batter into your pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Bake time depends on pan size- details in the recipe card below.)
- Allow cake to fully cool on a wire rack before inverting onto a cake stand and glazing.
- While cake is baking make the Chocolate Ganache (add some Irish whiskey!) and Irish Cream Frosting
- When the cake is cooled fully, spread the warm ganache onto the top of the cake and allow it to cool to set fully. It can drip down the sides of the cake a bit which I think looks beautiful!
- Once the ganache is set- spread on the Irish Cream Frosting.
Can I make this into a sheet cake?
Yes- use a 9×13 pan and expect a thinner layer- more like a snack cake.
Can I make this as a bundt cake?
Yes! make my recipe for Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake
Can I make this into a layer cake?
Yes! If you want a layer cake version, make two 8 inch cakes. Fill with chocolate ganache and the top with the Baileys Cream Cheese Icing.
Can I make this in advance?
The cake portion freezes beautifully. Since it can make 2 8 inch cakes, I often make 2, double wrap one in plastic wrap- and freeze it until I’m ready to use.
The whole frosted and assembled cake will also last well in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup /240 ml stout (such as Guinness or chocolate porter)
- 1 cup/2 sticks/226 g unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup/60 g unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process)
- 2 cups/250 g all-purpose flour
- 2 cups/400 g granulated sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon / 7 g baking soda
- 1 teaspoon/5g salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup /160 g Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 recipe Chocolate Ganache
- 1 recipe Irish Cream Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease or spray and flour pan or pans* set aside.
- In a small saucepan combine the Guinness and butter. Heat over medium until butter is melted. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to cool a bit.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the eggs and yogurt until smooth.
- Add the butter/stout mixture slowly with the mixer running on medium speed until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients on low until *just* mixed. Use a spatula to finish mixing by hand, don't overmix- you just want to make sure there are no clumps or streaks.
- Pour batter into your pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Start checking at 20 minutes.
- Allow cake to fully cool before inverting onto a cake stand.
- Top with warm ganache when cake is cool.
- Allow ganache to firm up and set (you can speed this up in the fridge,) before topping with Baileys Frosting.
Notes
You can use either 2 8 inch cake pans, 1 9 inch springform pan or a bundt pan.
If using 8 inch pans bake for 20-25 minutes, for a bundt pan I would start checking the cake at 30 minutes, and for the springform check at 25 minutes, adding more time if needed.