Nigella Lawson, whose recipe for this cake I am following, writes that it is magnificent in its damp blackness. Nigella’s descriptions are so mouthwatering as if delicious sweet syrup was slowly dripping from her words. Sophisticated language is very adequate here as this cake truly is a piece of poetry. It looks like famous Irish stout, I think the world cup is a perfect time to make it, as beer and football are a match made in heaven and the amount of sugar in this cake will sweeten bitter taste of every missed goal 🙂
I was rather suspicious of it at first, as always when the ingredients wouldn’t be my obvious choice for a cake (like i. e. carrots or beetroots), but in this case sugar evens out bitterness of Guinness, and the beer really deepens dark colour of the batter, also giving a note of intrigue and richness to its taste. It happens a lot in our house that some cakes are gone from the tray before they had a chance to cool off, like apple pie or some lighter sponge cakes with fruits. This one is heavier and more filling so it’s best to enjoy it in smaller portions. It’s chocolatey delicious and looks divine with frothy white cream on top.
Ingredients for the cake
250 ml of Guinness
250 g of unsalted butter
5 g cocoa powder
400 g of caster sugar
142 ml of sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
275 g of plain flour
2½ teaspoons of bicarbonate soda
For the Topping
Method
Pour Guinness into a saucepan, add butter and heat it up until it’s melted, add cocoa and sugar and mix it in. Lightly beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla extract and pour into your brown, beery mixture. Final ingredients are flour and soda, and once you stir it in, pour the cake batter into greased and lined tray and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (175 °C without fan, 160 °C with fan). Allow it to cool off completely as it’s rather moist. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over icing sugar and beat to combine. Spread it over the cake shaping creamy peaks and hills.
What remains 