Sacrificing a beer in the name of Guinness stout chocolate cake

Guinness Stout Chocolate Cake is the only chocolate cake recipe you’ll ever need. Trust me.

It’s so decadent, it’s rich. It’s a chocolate lovers dream. Every year growing up, my husband requested chocolate on chocolate cake for his birthday. Both he and his mom thought this was the best cake ever.

I remember seeing a stout cake recipe in passing at some point, and when we had a pack of Guinness in our fridge I asked if I could use one to cook with. The nerve I had! Ask my husband to sacrifice a beer for me to cook with?

It was my birthday after all, and I too wanted chocolate on chocolate cake. Why the heck not? He absolutely agreed though, it was totally worth it!

As you know, I’m not in a spot where I’m comfortable, and maybe even capable, of coming up with my own cake recipes right now. So, I’m simply sharing a recipe I followed from another blog, Buy This Cook That.

Here’s what you need:

• Unsalted butter
• Guinness
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• All-purpose flour
• White granulated sugar
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Eggs
• Sour cream
• Vanilla
• Heavy cream
• Semisweet chocolate
• Sea salt (optional topping)

When I set the ingredients out on the counter, I had a flashback to when we went to Ireland in 2016. We had just arrived in Belfast by way of a plane and then a big rental van. We got to our flat and it was nighttime and I was so exhausted. But my dad rallied us to walk over to a pub to have our first beer.

Now a found memory, I’m so glad we did that. At that point, I had never been a huge Guinness fan. Didn’t hate it by any means, just hadn’t appreciated it that much until that very moment. It was light and refreshing despite its dark color. We had worked hard for this beer, especially because our toddler was with us.

On our trip around the island, we went to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. We did the touristy thing, going through the Guinness experience and then learning how to properly pour a beer. Easy right? Well, when it was my turn I somehow managed to screw up and had to do it twice. I still got my certificate of completion though.

Now that I’m waxing poetic about that trip, I’ll be sure to share some of those photos at the end of this post. I would go back there in a heartbeat. So green and lush and beautiful.

My first attempt at a layered cake was this Guinness stout chocolate cake

Alright, back to this cake. This was my first attempt at a layered cake. It went okay. I got really impatient with the last layer and it started to crumble because I didn’t let it cool enough. Something my cake-baking mother had warned me against as far back as I remember.

When I mentioned that to her, she told me next time to wrap the cake layers in parchment paper and pop them in the freezer for a while. Oh, that makes a lot of sense.

Making this cake is a joyful experience because it starts with a big pot o’ melted butter and beer. Then you add chocolate to the mix and it’s really a party.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this recipe was the simplicity of the frosting. It’s literally just heavy whipping cream and melted chocolate. I had never made frosting that way before and I have a feeling it won’t be the last time. So, so easy and so, so decadent and delicious.

To get step-by-step directions head over the Buy This Cook That’s Ultimate Irish Stout Chocolate Cake post. I was feeling pretty “extra” that day as the young kids say. I had some peonies on hand that I used as a cake topper.

And as promised, here are some more of my favorite photos from our Ireland Trip!

I would go back to Ireland in a heartbeat! The green lush land and castles were to die for. I’m a huge fan of the cuisine there too, goes perfect with all the beers. Have you been before and if so what was your favorite?!