Chocolate Guinness Cake with White Icing by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Even though it’s not anywhere near St. Patrick’s Day season, when I saw this cake recipe using Guinness Stout in the New York Times cooking section, I knew I had to try it. I’m still in celebration mode after all with THE MANGO MURDERS just published! Here's the cake we enjoyed at the book launch party at RJ Julia booksellers on August 12. (Notice the sides of the cake decorated to look like pages!)

But back to the Guinness cake at hand, I made some tweaks, including salt in the batter, and reducing the sugar in the icing. When making the icing, I realized I had no confectioners sugar. I made it using 2/3 of a cup of regular sugar and we thought it was delicious and not too sweet, as icing can be. I also added a half a teaspoon of salt to the cake batter. The original recipe called for super fine sugar in the cake, I used regular sugar and it turned out great.

For the Cake

Butter, for the pan

1 cup Guinness stout

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter 

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups sugar

¾ cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Topping

2/3 cups confectioners' sugar

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

½ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter, a eight or 9 inch cake pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and butter that as well.

Combine the beer and the butter in a pan and heat until the butter is melted. Remove the pan from the stove and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. 

In another bowl combine the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix those together well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix again. Add all of this to the Guinness/butter mixture. Combine well and scrape into the prepared pan.

Bake until risen and firm. Mine took 45 minutes, though it might take longer so keep an eye on it.

For the topping, blend the sugar and cream cheese until smooth, using a hand mixer or food processor. Add the heavy cream and whip until smooth.

When the cake is completely cooled, frost the top so that it looks like the white head of a poured Guinness!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. 

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE is out now! And if you choose audio books as your poison (LOL), A Poisonous Palate is on sale for 75% off until September 5. Here's the link.

And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!