Online content creator Anna has stumbled upon what she declares as the ‘best cake’ recipe ever, and it’s none other than Nigella Lawson’s Guinness cake. Known for her fashion and beauty tips, Anna was thrilled to share that this Guinness-infused chocolate delight will be her “birthday cake of choice from now on”.
She raved: “Honestly, this is THE BEST cake I’ve ever made. A rich and moist Guinness cake (that’s basically just a very dense chocolate cake), with a CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.”
Delving into the details, Anna explained: “It’s incredible. Yes, it has Guinness in it. No, you can’t taste the Guinness in it. It’s just a very dense, moist chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. I know. If someone would have told me this had cream cheese frosting I would have made this years ago. Super easy. All in one pan. Let me show you.”
The recipe in question is Nigella’s Chocolate Guinness Cake, which Nigella herself described as: “This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can’t say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of describing it is to say that it’s like gingerbread without the spices.”
Here are the ingredients for a 12-slice wonder:
For the cake:
- 250 millilitres Guinness
- 250 grams unsalted butter
- 75 grams cocoa powder
- 400 grams caster sugar
- 150 millilitres sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 275 grams plain flour
- 2½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
For the topping:
- 300 grams cream cheese
- 150 grams icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornflour
- 125 millilitres double cream (or whipping cream)
Method:
Firstly, preheat your oven to gas mark 4, or 180C or 160C for fan ovens, and prepare a 23cm/9inch springform tin with butter and lining. Then, pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, adding butter and heat until it melts, followed by whisking in cocoa and sugar.
Next, mix the sour cream with eggs and vanilla, and add this mixture to the pan containing the beer. After that, whisk in the flour and bicarb. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.
Allow the cake to cool completely on a rack before icing. Once cooled, place it on a cake stand ready for icing.
Whip the cream cheese lightly until smooth, then sieve over the icing sugar and cornflour and beat to combine.
If using double cream, add it now and beat until achieving a spreadable consistency. If using whipping cream, whisk first until soft peaks form, then add spoonfuls into the other mixture. After combining, fold in the rest. Finally, ice the top of the cake.
