Mary Berry Guinness Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.
• In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.
• For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.
• Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

IMPROVED CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE

Steps:

• Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Centigrate (170 for fan-assisted ovens), or gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 23cm push-base cake tin.
• Measure out the Guinness, making sure to let any foam dissipate, and pour it into a wide, deep saucepan. Cut the butter into small cubes, and add it to the pan. Heat until the butter is melted into the pan - do not let it boil.
• In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa and sugar and whisk into the butter/beer mixture, being careful not to let the sugar catch and burn.
• Beat the eggs and sour cream together, then add to the pan.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour and bicarbonate of soda, then slowly whisk into the pan, introducing a little at a time so as to not form lumps. This is really easy to accidentally do due to the density of the cake.
• Pour the batter into your pan, and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Keep an eye on your oven - I do not recommend baking this longer as this cake can burn on the outside but not cook on the inside. When a toothpick comes out of the centre clean, your cake is ready.
• While the cake is baking, beat the double cream into the cream cheese, and begin to add your icing sugar bit by bit. Depending on what consistency you wish to achieve, you may need more icing sugar to allow the icing to 'sit' on the cake like the head of a Guinness pint.
• Once completely cooled (this will take a while due to the cake's density), pop your cake out of the tin and ice with a spatula (I prefer a silicone one for better control).