It’s not really Beer Day, although I’m sure its a holiday somewhere. This is what my husband said to me when I surprised him with a Guinness Chocolate Cake at 9am yesterday morning. We came across this recipe in a People Magazine article featuring chief Brian Leth of Vinegar Hill House ( you can see the article here) Vinegar Hill is a nearby (like 2 miles) Brooklyn neighborhood, one we don’t really explore, but ought to, and Im adding it to our list. Anyway my husband’s birthday is next weekend and I always ask him what type of cake he’d like. We had it narrowed down to a Red Velvet or repeat of last years Chocolate Strawberry Tallcake when he threw me for a loop asking for this Guinness cake. We keep Guinness in the fridge regularly so I surprised him the next morning with the cake, which means I still get to bake what I had in mind next week :)
Chocolate Guinness Cake
The cake really does have a cup of Guinness Stout beer in it and yes I had to taste test the beer to make sure of its freshness…at 8am. Tasted great! Other than that it was a pretty standard cake recipe. Here is the recipe per People Magazine:
Guinness Chocolate Cake
1 cup Guinness Stout
10 tbsp. butter unsalted butter, softened
6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tbsp. sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degree. Butter a 9in springform pan and line with parchment paper
2 Heat Guinness and butter in large saucepan over medium-low until butter melts, remove from heat. Whisk in cocoa and sugar.
3. Combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; whisk into cocoa mixture. Whisk in flour and baking soda.
4. Pour batter into pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until cake is firm. Remove to wire rack; cool completely. Remove from pan. Spread frosting on top.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat 8 oz. softened cream cheese until smooth; gradually add 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, beating at low speed just until blended. Gradually add 1/2 cup cream; beat until blended.
I followed the recipe almost exact, except I used Salted Butter and more than 2 cups of powdered sugar in the icing. I also baked it in two 8″ round pans so I could stack a pretty cake. So can I taste the Guinness? No not really, but it doesn’t taste like a standard chocolate cake either, more like a brownie that is on the bittersweet side. My husband loved it regardless and was super excited that I surprised him and thats what matters most!
nikkiikkin.com 
I made this cake twice and it came out of the oven perfectly but within in an hour the middle fell to the bottom. Any ideas on what I did wrong? The cake is delicious but I’d like to avoid this in the future.
Hi Phyllis, well I’m no expert baker, but there are lots of answers out there if you google “what causes cakes to sink in the middle” Mainly people say that there is too much air in the batter, the batter has been beaten too vigarously or the over is too hot. I also experienced this cake condensing after it sat but if your problem was just the middle id say it wasn’t cooked enough and a lower temp is needed. My gas oven “bakes hot” so I like to set the temp 25 degrees lower on most of my recipes. Hope that helps & thanks for reading!
Nikki
Thanks for your response. I will try to bake it longer next time and see if that helps. I tried to find the email for the chef to ask him but couldn’t find it anywhere.
You’re welcome! I hope it turns out for you next time, longer and lower temp should work. The only email I can suggest is info@vinegarhillhouse.com this is the restaurant that the chef works for and you could probably reach him there.