Dreams are made of Guinness (cake)
Not too long ago, I had breakfast with one of my friends, and as a little gift, he brought me a slice of his home-made Guinness cake. Ever since that day, I have been pestering him for the recipe, and so last weekend, we got together for a baking session! He has very kindly donated his recipe to The Swindian, and my oh my, it’s amazing. It’s moist, chocolatey, and contains Guinness. What else could you ask for in a cake?
We didn’t have the right tools to make the icing smooth, so this is ‘rustic’
It’s a surprisingly easy recipe to follow, and you can decorate it any way you like. We chose Oreos and crunchy chocolate balls, but you can use just about anything. The batter is extremely liquid, so don’t be surprised once it’s all mixed. This is also why it takes a long time in the oven, but trust me, it is worth every excruciating minute of waiting!
Crumbled Oreos
Cake batter
- Half a can Guinness (220ml)
- 250g unsalted butter
- 80g cocoa powder
- 200g dark brown sugar
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 150ml sour cream
- 280g plain flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
Icing
- Icing sugar and full fat cream cheese (we just mixed them together, and then tasted it until it was sweet enough for our liking!)
- Oreos, crumbled (to decorate)
- Little crispy chocolate balls (to decorate)
Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
On very low heat, warm the Guinness and butter in a saucepan. Do not let it boil – the Guinness will go bitter. After the butter has fully melted, add the cocoa powder and sugar and let dissolve. Take off the stove and let cool.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla essence and sour cream.
Make sure the Guinness mixture is cooled, then mix in the egg/vanilla/sour cream liquid. If the mixture is too hot, the egg will scramble, so be careful here!
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and bicarbonate of soda.
Slowly add the wet mixture until it’s fully combined. Please note this mix will seem really wet, but that’s expected!
Grease a 9 inch cake tin and pour in the batter. Place in the oven and cook for around 45 minutes. If after this time, the cake is still wobbly, then lower the temperature and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Leave in the tin to cool – it will continue to cook and should be very moist in the middle.
Decorate with your icing and Oreos (if the cake has cracked on the top, this is a great way to hide it).
A master at work
EAT IT ALL.
