Chocolate Guinness Cake
Chocolate Guinness Cake is made with a rich and tender chocolate cake laced with smooth stout with a chocolate ganache filling and a decadent Irish Cream Frosting!
I’ve been dreaming up this Chocolate Guinness Cake for years. It’s a simple twist on my sinful chocolate cake recipe but swaps out coffee for a smooth stout and it’s EVERYTHING I ever wanted it to be and more!
Did I mention the cake is coated in a creamy Irish Cream frosting? Well, it is, and it takes the cake to the next level.
Oh, and let’s not forget the layer of rich chocolate ganache nestled between those cake layers, because that’s what makes this cake over-the-top indulgent!
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I figured it was the perfect time to finally share this recipe with you!
How To Make It
Like any layer cake, this recipe takes a bit of time and patience. But it is SO worth it!
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F, greasing two 9-inch round cake pans, and lining with parchment paper and cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer.
- Next, beat in the eggs, buttermilk, Guinness, oil, and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, the batter is going to be very thin.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and bake the cakes for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick comes clean from the center.
- Cool the cake in the pans for at least 10 minutes and loosen from the sides of pans before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. I like to use Bake Even Strips for even cakes.
- While cakes cool, prepare the ganache by chopping the chocolate and placing it in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until simmering, then pour over the chocolate and let sit for 4 minutes. Once the time has elapsed, whisk until a rich chocolate ganache forms.
- Let the ganache cool before spreading on one of the layers of cake about 1/4-inch from the edge, and set aside.
- Prepare the Irish Cream Frosting, by creaming the butter in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add in the powdered sugar and Irish Cream liqueur. If frosting seems too stiff, add a little more liqueur.
- Pipe a line of the frosting around the outer edge of the ganache to seal it in before adding the top layer. Then apply a thin crumb coat of the frosting to the entire cake and place in the fridge for 20 minutes or the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Use the remaining frosting to finish frosting the cake. Add chocolate sprinkles or other sprinkles as desired.
How To Store The Cake:
The best way to store cake is in an airtight cake container. If you don’t have one, you can wrap the cake with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it at room temperature or in the fridge.
How Long Does It Last?
Most buttercream frosted homemade cakes like this one will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature or about 1 week in the refrigerator.
Guinness And Irish Cream The Perfect Pairing!
Much like my Black Magic Chocolate Cake, this Chocolate Guinness Cake is rich and the stout adds a wonderful depth to the overall flavor.
I’m a big fan of ganache and think it’s the perfect filling for this cake! However, you could definitely use some frosting as a filling between the layers as well.
And let’s talk about that buttercream frosting, shall we?
It’s a classic buttercream base using just unsalted butter and powdered sugar. But then we swap milk or cream out for Irish Cream. And trust me – it’s tempting to just eat it by the spoonful.
The frosting crusts up nicely so you can prepare this a day or two in advance. I do recommend storing it in the fridge, but bull it out a couple of hours before serving.
Eating cold cake is weird. Just sayin’
If you’re running short on time and you need a killer dessert in less than 2 hours with minimal effort, I recommend making my Irish Cream Chocolate Cake instead!
And both pair wonderfully with my Irish Cream Hot Chocolate 😉
And when I said this Chocolate Guinness Cake was indulgent, I wasn’t kidding. If you’re counting calories, save yourself the shock and go make this Chocolate Yogurt Cake instead.
More Delicious St. Patricks Day Recipes:
- Irish Fried Cabbage
- Irish Potato Candy
- Black Velvet Cocktail
- Irish Cream No Bake Cookies
- Dublin Coddle
- Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Mule Cocktail
- Homemade Irish Cream
Chocolate Guinness Cake
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Chocolate Guinness Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup Guinness* room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ganache
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 4 ounces heavy cream
Frosting
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup Irish Cream Liqueur
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line and grease two 9 or 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and cooking spray and set aside. Click for the photo instructions for lining round pans with parchment paper.
- Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and mix together.
- Beat in the eggs, buttermilk, Guinness, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, the batter is going to be very thin.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes until toothpick comes clean from center.
- Cool in pans for at least 10 minutes and loosen from sides of pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. I like to use Bake Even Strips for a nice and evenly baked cake, but if your cakes dome, you’ll need to gently slice the tops of the cake off so they are level before assembling.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare the ganache by chopping the chocolate and placing it in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan just until simmering around the edges then pour over the chocolate and let sit for 4 minutes. Once the time has elapsed, whisk until a rich chocolate ganache forms.
- Allow the ganache to cool and thicken a bit before spreading on the top of one of the layers of cake about 1/4-inch from the edge of the cake, and set aside.
- Prepare the Irish Cream Frosting, by creaming the butter in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add in the powdered sugar and Irish Cream liqueur a little at a time alternating between each. If frosting seems too stiff, add a little more liqueur.
- Pipe a line of the frosting around the outer edge of the ganache to seal it in before adding the top layer. Then apply a thin crumb coat of the frosting to the entire cake and place in the fridge for 20 minutes or the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Use the remaining frosting to finish frosting the cake. Add chocolate sprinkles or other sprinkles as desired.
Video
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Since I am wheat free and use very limited dairy I made this with my gluten free flour mix with 1 tsp xanthan gum. It turned out perfect, so incredibly moist. For the frosting I used coconut cream instead of heavy cream. The coconut taste was not noticeable as the Irish cream really came through. My husband said it was the best cake I have ever made in our 41 yrs together. Making it for my girlfriends Irish birthday!
So. Moist!
Amazing Cake!!!