(Half) Chocolate Guinness Cake with Irish Buttercream

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Here's a cake to set your chocolate loving heart on fire, and a great dessert for St. Patrick's day coming up here.  Full disclosure, I am not a beer drinker, I've never liked it.  Does that offend my Irish roots?  Sorry Nan, and thanks for packing up and starting over in America!  But when it comes to cooking and baking, beer does have a little something to add to the party.  I always loved my mom's beer battered fish n chips, and beer is good in stews and marinades.  My brother loves to make microbrews and asks about beer bread.  But this cake... wow.  I found this recipe on Handle the Heat and it was outrageously good.

The bitterness and hoppiness of the stout offset the sweetness of the Irish buttercream.  On the day that it's made, you can definitely detect the hops still.  But it gets even better the next day, mellowing out a little and blending in flavor.  Truly a treat.  The challenge is, most of my family are not big cake eaters.  So I actually halved this recipe and stacked the single round, halved, to make a perfectly delicious and beautiful decorated half cake!  And everyone enjoyed small slices of it, even the non cakers.  Well, not me.  I enjoyed large slices of it.


So if you have an empty nest or just want to be really good and avoid temptation, make a half cake!  I loved the naked cake look in the original, and since most of the family prefers much less frosting than cake, that was the perfect option.  And perfect for the sweetness of this frosting too.  Really such a delicious combination.

I love baking with weights, so much easier to halve a recipe... 

Here is the full recipe for your enjoyment.  Feel free to cut it in half as I did and make a smaller, but still impressive, two-layer half cake! 

I love the 'naked cake' look!

Be sure to use the taller sided cake pans for this rich chocolate cake!

Also, happy birthday month to Amy and thanks for hosting!  

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey's Buttercream
recipe by Tessa Arias

Cake:

1¾ cups (222 g) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (64 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
¾ cup (170 g) sour cream or plain full-fat yogurt, at room temperature
½ cup fresh vegetable oil (sunflower or avocado)
3 large eggs, at room temperature (75g beaten egg for a half batch, or use one whole egg plus a white)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Guinness beer

Buttercream:

4 sticks (454 g) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur, such as Bailey’s

Ganache:

4 oz (113 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
real chocolate sprinkles or chocolate curls for topping, optional

For the cake: 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter or grease two 8-inch round cake pans with 3-inch deep sides, and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a 4 cup liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, and beer.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula, large spoon, or whisk until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter equally between the two prepared pans and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool the cakes on a wire rack in their pans for 30 minutes before carefully turning out onto the cooling rack to cool completely. For ease of decorating, freeze the cakes while you prepare the buttercream.

For the buttercream:

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar until fully combined.  Then add the Irish cream liqueur.  Beat on high speed until very light, fluffy, and smooth, about 3 minutes.  If the buttercream is too thick or thin, add a splash more Irish cream or more powdered sugar as necessary for the proper spreading consistency.

Assembly:

Place one cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Frost and fill the top of the cake quite generously, as this is the filling layer.  This is the largest portion of frosting for the 'naked cake' look, which is basically a nice thin, crumb coat. Top with the second cake layer, flat side up.

If making a half cake - cut the single cake layer in half and place the first half on the cake plate, frost generously, then flip the second half over and place on the top, flat side up.

With an offset spatula, spread a very thin layer of frosting all over the outside edges of the cake. This layer is a thin coat to hold in any errant crumbs.  Chill the cake as needed while decorating, for a smooth finish.

When decorating a half cake, only frost the outside round edges of the cake, leaving the cut center part plain, as if the cake had simply been divided in half.

Spread the remaining frosting on the top of the cake, leaving the outside with the thin crumb coat to achieve the 'naked' look.  Chill the cake while preparing the chocolate drip.

Make chocolate ganache:

Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  In a small pan or in the microwave, heat the heavy cream to a simmer then immediately pour over the chocolate.  Cover for a few minutes to let the chocolate melt, then stir until a smooth ganache forms.

Let the mixture cool at room temperature until it has thickened but is still pourable, about 10 minutes.  You can test the thickness on the side of a clean glass.  Reheat for a few seconds if it it too thick to ooze down, or let it continue to cool if still too runny.

Carefully pour some of the ganache over the top of the chilled cake. Use an offset spatula to quickly smooth the ganache over the top of the cake before it sets, spreading evenly just to the cake’s edge.  Push a little over the edge with the spatula, or use a squeeze bottle to gently form one drip at a time down the sides of the cake.

With a half cake, you will need to be careful to only spread away from the cut side and to the outer edges.

Before the ganache fully sets, add the chocolate sprinkles or chocolate curls as desired over the top.  (They won't stick if you wait too long.)

This cake may be stored, covered, in a cake keeper at a cool, dry room temperature for 2-3 days. 

Be sure to check out all the different kinds of cakes we have made for Sunday Funday this week:

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