Guinness Chocolate Cake
This decadent Guinness Chocolate Cake is topped with a homemade Irish cream frosting for a sweet and unique dessert. This is amazing for Saint Patrick's Day but great for an anytime treat with rich and complex flavors!
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Thanks to a homemade Bailey's frosting, this rich chocolate cake includes a slightly boozy kick and lots of amazing flavors for a bakery-quality dessert that even a beginner baker can make!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Amazing Flavors: Adding Guinness to cake batter gives it a deep and rich flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet and buttery Irish cream frosting!
Simple Ingredients and Prep: Aside from the alcohol, this cake and frosting are made with common ingredients you probably have around the kitchen already.
Great for Special Occasions: Thanks to amazing Irish beer and liqueur, this unique dessert is great for St. Patrick's day but works as an anytime treat.
For even more incredible and special cake recipes, try my Dr Pepper Cake or this Gingerbread Cake!
Ingredients Needed
- Dark Cocoa Powder: I prefer to use a nice dark cocoa powder for this recipe to ensure the cake is decadent and very has a rich chocolate flavor.
- Sugar: You'll need both granulated sugar and light brown sugar for the cake, as well as powdered sugar for the frosting.
- Sour Cream: Gives your cake a delicious moistness and a bit of unique tangy flavor.
- Guinness: Provides a deep, rich, and complex flavor that helps accentuate the dark cocoa powder.
- Irish Cream: Baileys is the most popular example, but any kind of Irish cream works fine!
How to Make this Guinness Chocolate Cake
- Step 1: Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together and mix.
- Step 2: Add white sugar, brown sugar, and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy and combined.
- Step 3: Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract and beat again.
- Step 4: Carefully mix in a portion of the dry ingredients.
- Step 5: Alternate between adding Guinness and dry ingredients until everything is combined and the batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
- Step 6: Pour the batter into a prepared 9x13 cake pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan, invert, and cool completely.
- Step 7: While cake cools, cream butter with the stand mixer.
- Step 8: Add powdered sugar and combine well with butter.
- Step 9: Carefully add Baileys Irish cream and mix into frosting.
- Step 10: Spread frosting evenly over top of the cake. Sprinkle with cocoa powder for pops of color and chocolate flavor, then slice and serve!
Recipe Tips
- This cake can be made without any alcohol if you prefer. Swap the Guinness for an alcohol free stout and use heavy cream and vanilla extract instead of the Irish cream.
- Don't skip the sifting step for the dry ingredients. This will help eliminate lumps and prevent the need for extra mixing, which can lead to dense or tough cake.
- Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container for best results.
- Guinness is the best option, but any kind of dark stout beer will achieve similar results for this cake.
Recipe FAQ's
The alcohol in the cake cooks out as it bakes, but the frosting is made with Irish cream so it does have a little of alcohol content to it. If you want to make this kid friendly, use a different kind of frosting.
This usually happens if you've overmixed the batter or if you haven't properly creamed the butter and sugar. Be sure to let cold ingredients come up to room temp to make it easier to stir the batter, which will prevent excess gluten from forming and leave you with a more tender cake.
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Guinness Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour spoon and leveled
- ⅔ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup Guinness Stout cold
Frosting
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, r room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and then line a 9”x13” baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil. Using the paddle attachment mix for 1-2 minutes on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and the sour cream. Blend again at medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Alternating with the dry ingredients and Guinness stout, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until combined and smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared 9”x13” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until the cake is done, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes then invert the cake out onto a serving platter until completely cooled, about 30-45 minutes.
- While the cake cools, make the frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter and beat with the whisk attachment on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes until lightened in color. Gradually add the powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time at low speed, to the butter and slowly incorporate on low speed. Alternate with the Irish cream liquor. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake to evenly distribute it.
- Garnish as desired with cocoa powder, chocolate curls, and enjoy immediately after frosting.
Notes
- If you want an alcohol-free version of this cake, substitute Nonalcoholic Guinness Stout and heavy whipping cream for the Bailey’s, adding 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract into the frosting.
- Sifting is a small added step but yields amazing baked results! It removes lumps before they become problematic, especially since cocoa powder is notorious for being hydrophobic and prone to clumping.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped tightly with plastic for up to 4-5 days after baking.
