Guinness Cake

The other cake on offer for Justin's birthday party was another pinterest.com find. Last year, Justin's sister in law, Natalie of The Sweets Life, made the most delicious Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes for his birthday. They were ah-maz-ing. Loved. Them. So, when I saw this Guinness Cake online that had I knew I needed to try it. Add to it the fact that it had cream cheese icing and I knew I was done for.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that this is the cake that almost wasn't. I had high hopes for the cake. I've been spending a wee bit of time on pinterest lately and I was looking for picture-perfection. I didn't get it. My cake fell apart when I popped it out of the pan and had to be artfully smooshed back together again. I came close to scrapping it all together and making a new one. Good thing Justin convinced me that I was being insane. This cake was amazing and it would have been a horrible shame to see it go to waste. Make it. You won't regret it.

Guinness Chocolate Cake
From Katie Quinn on Design Sponge

Cake:
1 cup and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness I used extra stout.
3/4 cups cocoa, sifted
3/4 cup flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 1/3 cups cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2/3 cups cream, whipped

Warm butter, cocoa, and Guinness to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until melted. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.

Add flour, baking soda, and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix together well. Pour in the Guinness mixture, lightly combine, add the vanilla, eggs, and sour cream. Beat everything together until well combined. The batter should be think and dark chocolate in color. Mine was thinner than I was expecting but turned out fine.

Pour into greased and lined 10" Angel Food pan. Ok, friends, this is where I really messed up. I used a bunt pan because...really? who has an angel food pan. Also, I had no idea that lined meant for real, lined with parchment paper. Woops. I just greased mine....and then it broke when I took it out of the pan. Lesson learned. I've registered for an angel food pan for next time. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean from the center of the cake. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing cake from pan to cool on a baking rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, whip the cream cheese on low-medium using a whisk attachment until the cheese in smooth and lump-free. Gradually add in the sifted powdered sugar and beat gently to combine. Once combined, beat on medium until lump-free. Fold in the whipped cream by hand to fully combine.

Frost just the top of this cake until the cake resembles a pint of creamy Guinness. Ok, I don't think it looked like a pint of Guinness, but it did look beautiful....in the picture online.