Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe (2024)

Love this cake. I do think a little Bailey's in the frosting does wonders.

We make this cake one day in advance. It tastes better and it's a little more moist. We release the spring form after about an hour in the cooling process so the sides don't stick the next day. We prepare the frosting the day we plan to serve.
In a side by side taste test with my family of 19 tasters... this was a clear winner over the epicurious three layer Guinness cake.

It's better with 1) a half-teaspoon of kosher salt added to the dry ingredients, and 2) a better stout than Guinness - preferably a chocolate stout.

Made this cake for the folks. They loved it! Didn’t notice the Guinness in the cake, but I noticed there was leftover beer in the bottle, so it was a win for the cook.

Please list ingredients by weight, not by volume.

For those of you asking for weight. You can find it on Nigella's website
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-guinness-cake-3086

Made cake as stated. I used about 3 oz. of goat cheese in the topping in place of cream cheese. To accompany the cake I use a jar of Morrelo cherries simmered in a bit of sugar and ruby port. Served it on a plate and put the cake on top. It was a warm syrupy mixture that set off the deep chocolate cake. It was awesome and pretty.

This was superb and so easy to make! Not too sweet (I used ordinary sugar, not superfine, and didn't adjust quantity). Came out perfectly. Icing was easy too, and frosted beautifully. My husband loved the deep flavor of chocolate with a hint of bitterness. Looked gorgeous as well! Did I mention how easy it was to make? :)

I make this with the above-noted changes (salt, a better stout) in a Bundt pan, rather than a springform, and don't frost it at all. Dusting with a mix of confectioner's sugar and cocoa is all it needs, not a thick gloppy frosting.

I made it in Denver (5280', folks, if you had forgotten!) and it didn't fall! Changes:
9oz stout
6.25 oz sugar: 2cups minus 2T
10.25 oz flour: added 2T to the 2cups
2 tsp baking soda (not 2.5)
Baked at 375 (actually in my convection oven, 350 which is 375 in normal ovens) for 35 mins. I should have checked at 30 mins.
Also, I food-processed the sugar and cream cheese, then added the whipping cream just until I liked the texture.
Quite yummy

I made this recipe into cupcakes, adjusting the cooking time downwards and just using a cake tester to figure out when they were done. I also used the food processor to make superfine sugar out of white granulated sugar with no problems. The cupcakes were a hit!

I have made this over and over since it was first published and think it is the best in the world! Last one I used a cherry ale instead of Guinness. Also tossed in a coupla handfuls of frozen Bing cherries and added more chopped cherries to the frosting and a bit more powdered sugar to thicken. The cake was grand and gone in one day. I am going to keep experimenting with the recipe as my go-to base for chocolate cake.

And a few more notes on making and baking the cake:
I let the butter-Guinness-sugars-cocoa mixture cool to room temp before adding to batter.
After filling the pan, I rapped it on the counter a few times to shake out any air pockets.
I used an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness: 200 degrees F in center (don't start testing too early and deflate the cake).

My go-to chocolate cake, always wins raves. It's what I think a chocolate cake should be: intensely chocolate-y, not overly sweet, and fairly dense. Occasionally I save other chocolate cake recipes but then I think, "Why bother?"

Made 12 cupcakes with half a recipe. Reduced baking soda to 1 tsp (half of notes-recommended 2 tsp) and used salted butter plus a true pinch. Baked for 23 minutes. I loved that it was so quick to mix the batter due to the melted butter. The leftover Guinness did not go to waste.

I adore this cake and have made in several times out of "Feast," which does NOT call for 18 tablespoons butter as stated in the "tip." The ingredient list is exactly the same here as in the book. And why is this information even a "tip"?!

WHIP THE CREAM! and fold it into the rest of the topping. I did what recipe says, and the topping ran all over the place, even after I added more sugar. WHIP THE CREAM. >: (

This is the only cake I bother making anymore. It’s fabulous, not overly sweet, and completely addicting. I’ve found the recipe very forgiving in my terrible oven. I’ve done cupcakes, Bundt pan, spring form, rounds, you name it. I almost always double the frosting recipe!

Made as directed, the cake turned out to be a bit dry. Did add about 1/2 tsp of salt. And the frosting is too cream cheese-forward to complement the cake. Okay, but not great and not even sure about good.

This is my favorite cake of all time ! So moist and deliciously balanced out with the best cream cheese icing ... yum :)

I adore this cake but I have never understood why there’s no salt in the recipe! Has there ever been a cake that tastes better without salt?

Way more convenient if the recipe measurement was given in weight as opposed to volume.

Afer 50 minutes it seemed done, after being out of the oven it sank in the middle. Maybe it needs a full hour or more.

For those of you substituting Gluten free flour, please be aware that most beer contains gluten, including Guinness! If you are Celiac you cannot use the beer.

Why the difference in the butter?

I used cane sugar for both the cake and frosting and it turned out incredible. Added a little too much Baileys to the frosting so it was a little runny but it still all tasted INCREDIBLE.

I feel like a heretic saying this - and I like both chocolate cake AND beer - but there’s a reason why they aren’t mixed together. To me, it tasted like a chocolate cake with a weird beer aftertaste, kinda like the college experience of scrounging for leftovers the day after a wild night out.

Someone gave me a knob of 95% cacao from Ecuador. How do I put it in this cake? I imagine it will need more sugar? Do I grate the cacao? Thanks for any ideas!

Anyone have guidance on how to make this without eggs (we have an allergy)?