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    Home » Type » Desserts » Cakes and Cupcakes

    Rich Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

    Published: Mar 15, 2021 · Modified: Jun 20, 2023 by Faith · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

    Jump to Recipe

    This Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with velvety smooth Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting yields a moist, tender cake that's deeply chocolatey with malty, roasty flavor notes.

    Top View of Guinness Cake with Thick White Cream Cheese Frosting

    As a food blogger, it’s a little ridiculous how many recipes are on my “to-make” list.

    But inspiration is everywhere! Movies, books, magazines, other food blogs.

    Meals I remember my mom making as a kid. Foods that my grandmother telling me she enjoyed as a youngster.

    Slice of Guinness Chocolate Cake with Vintage Fork

    Familiar seasonal dishes and celebratory foods, and also new food combinations I dream up.

    The hardest part is keeping up with my ever-growing list!

    I’ve had Chocolate Guinness Cake on list of recipes to make for a very long time now. Recently I bought a four-pack of Guinness to make Guinness Beef Stew and I was left with three cans of Guinness. It was the perfect excuse to make this cake, and just in time for St. Paddy's Day!

    Guinness Chocolate Cake Recipe with Description

    In This Article

    • Why You'll Love This Recipe
    • The Best Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe
    • Chocolate Guinness Cake FAQs
    • More Dessert Recipes with Guinness
    • Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

    Why You'll Love This Recipe

    • Complex chocolate flavor. This cake is rich and chocolatey with malty, roasty flavor notes.
    • Awesome texture. It has a moist and tender crumb that your fork will sink right into!
    • Cream cheese buttercream. This decadent buttercream is aromatic with vanilla bean, and slightly reminiscent of the foamy head on top of freshly-poured stout.

    The Best Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe

    Ingredients in This Chocolate Guinness Cake

    Chocolate Guinness Cake Ingredients
    • Flour
    • Cocoa powder
    • Baking soda
    • Salt
    • Eggs
    • Granulated sugar
    • Light brown sugar
    • Avocado oil or vegetable oil
    • Greek yogurt
    • Pure vanilla extract
    • Guinness Draught Stout

    Step-by-Step Instructions

    Stir or whisk together all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

    Dry Ingredients for Cake

    Add the eggs and granulated sugar, and brown sugar to a large bowl.

    Mixing Eggs and Sugars

    Whisk until thick and creamy. Make sure the cat doesn't dive in face-first, lol!

    Whisking Wet Ingredients for Cake

    Whisk in the oil, yogurt, and vanilla, and then the Guinness.

    Wet Ingredients for Guinness Cake

    Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk to combine.

    Whisking Dry Ingredients Into Wet Ingredients

    The batter will be bubbly from the beer.

    Grab a cake pan that's buttered, floured, and lined with a piece of parchment in the bottom.

    Cake Batter and Prepared Cake Pan

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

    Cake Batter in Round Cake Pan

    Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    Baked Cake in Pan

    And then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.

    Cake Cooling on Rack

    Once the cake is cool, make the frosting!

    Get out all the ingredients for the Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting.

    Cream Cheese Buttercream Ingredients

    Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla bean paste.

    Creaming Butter and Cream Cheese

    Add the powdered sugar.

    Adding Powdered Sugar to Creamed Butter and Cream Cheese

    Beat the mixture with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

    Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Buttercream

    Frost the cooled cake with the buttercream.

    Frosting Guinness Cake

    Slice it up and dig in!

    Fork Slicing Into Guinness Cake

    Chocolate Guinness Cake FAQs

    What Does Guinness Cake Taste Like?

    Chocolate Guinness Cake is deeply chocolatey with malty, roasty flavor notes and a moist and tender crumb. The rich cream cheese buttercream is aromatic with vanilla bean, and slightly reminiscent of the foamy head on top of freshly-poured stout.

    If you’re wondering if this Guinness Cake tastes like beer, the answer is not entirely.

    Stout adds a complexity to this recipe that provides malty, hoppy, roasted flavor notes.

    You will be able to taste it, but it’s not like sitting down to a mug (or stein) of Guinness. Instead, it’s much more mellow.

    The slight hoppy bitterness of this Guinness Cake is accented perfectly with a sweet Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting. Together, they make a lovely, balanced flavor pairing.

    Guinness Chocolate Cake with Slice

    What Does Beer Do to Cake?

    Adding stout to a chocolate cake is not all that different from adding coffee, although the stout provides a maltiness that coffee lacks.

    Basically, Guinness enhances the flavor nuances in chocolate, and helps pull out the different notes that are already there.

    Front View of Guinness Chocolate Cake with Frosting

    What is Stout Beer?

    Stout is a type of dark beer made with roasted malt or roasted barley and hops, water, and yeast. In general, stouts are dark and rich with a roasty, malty flavor and notes of coffee and/or chocolate. Historically, stout referred to a strong, highly alcoholic beer.

    There is a variety of different types of stouts based on other ingredients that are used during the brewing process. A few examples are oatmeal stout, milk stout, chocolate stout, and coffee stout.

    You can read more about stouts on Britannica, Vinepair, and Fandom.

    Half Eaten Slice of Chocolate Guinness Cake

    What Can I Substitute for Stout in This Recipe?

    Instead of Guinness Draught Stout in this recipe, you can use ½ cup of coffee. Cool it to room temperature and leave everything else in the recipe the same.

    More Dessert Recipes with Guinness

    • Vanilla Bean Guinness Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream
    • Guinness Chocolate Cookies
    • Fudgy Guinness Brownies with Dark Chocolate Ganache
    • Guinness Chocolate Pudding
    Overhead View of Half Eaten Slice of Guinness Chocolate Cake with Vintage Fork

    Let's Connect

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    Did you make this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment below. You can also tag @anediblemosaic on social media.

    To stay up-to-date, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

    Chocolate Guinness Cake Featured Image

    Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

    By: Faith Gorsky
    This Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting yields a moist, tender cake that's deeply chocolatey with malty, roasty flavor notes.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 25 minutes mins
    Cook Time 45 minutes mins
    Time for the Cake to Cool 2 hours hrs
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Irish
    Servings 10 servings
    Calories 427 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    Chocolate Guinness Cake:

    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 large eggs
    • ½ cup sugar
    • ½ cup light brown sugar lightly packed
    • ½ cup avocado oil or vegetable oil
    • ¼ cup full-fat unflavored Greek yogurt
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • ½ cup Guinness Draught Stout

    Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting:

    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
    • 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
    • 2 cups powdered sugar

    Other:

    • Butter for the pan
    • All-purpose flour for the pan

    Instructions
     

    For the Cake:

    • Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Place a piece of parchment paper that’s been trimmed to fit in the bottom.
    • Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
    • Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract, and then whisk in the Guinness.
    • Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine, being careful not to over-mix.
    • Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
    • Run a paring knife along the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack, let it cool for 5 minutes, and then peel off the parchment paper.
    • Cool the cake completely.

    For the Frosting:

    • Once the cake is cool, make the frosting. Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla bean paste in a large bowl. Add the powdered sugar and use a hand-held electric beater to mix until smooth and creamy.

    To Frost the Cake:

    • Place the cake on a cake plate or cake stand and top with the frosting, spreading it around. This makes enough frosting to frost the top and sides of a 9-inch cake, but I like to pile it on thick and only frost the top.

    Faith's Tips

    • Storage: Store this cake wrapped in the fridge for up to 4 days.
    • Frosting Tip: To make this frosting even more special, I like to add ⅛ teaspoon almond extract and ⅛ teaspoon butter extract. I find that it simulates the flavor of Irish cream!

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Chocolate Guinness Cake Recipe with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
    Amount Per Serving (1 slice)
    Calories 427 Calories from Fat 189
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 21g32%
    Saturated Fat 7g44%
    Trans Fat 1g
    Cholesterol 58mg19%
    Sodium 255mg11%
    Potassium 131mg4%
    Carbohydrates 58g19%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 45g50%
    Protein 5g10%
    Vitamin A 340IU7%
    Calcium 40mg4%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Keyword Chocolate Guinness Cake, Guinness Cake, Guinness Cake Recipe
    Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
    Chocolate Guinness Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting Pin

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    Hi, I'm Faith!

    I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind An Edible Mosaic. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had. Welcome to An Edible Mosaic!

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