Happy Saint Patricks Day! In honor of the holiday, lets make cake! I know I know, you can make cake anytime. There is never a time that doesn’t call for cake. But THIS cake? This cake is perfect for the holiday.
When I set out to make a dessert for the holiday, my first thought was Guinness and chocolate. It’s a pretty great combo. But it isn’t particularly unique. These days, I’m seeing recipes for Guinness and chocolate everywhere. So I thought, why not throw in some caramel and coffee? And maybe some nutty notes to? And suddenly we have a delicious three layer chocolate cake, perfect for Saint Patrick’s day.
But let me just say, this cake was a piece of work. I have been messing with this recipe for months. It took lots of planning, and sooooo many fails. For the cake you see in these pictures, I forgot to whip the egg whites and the cakes came out flat as a piece of paper. (well maybe not that flat, but still). So I had to make the cake again. I also had to make the ganche THREE TIMES. I don’t know what was going on with me, but I just could not do anything. And I am still not satisfied with the finished pictures. But hey, nobody’s perfect right?
Describe this Cake to me
Taste: There are a lot of flavors going on in this cake, but they all work. First off, we have a rich and decadent chocolate cake, with a little tang from the Guinness. Then in the frosting, you first get the deep caramel flavor, followed by the slight warming bitterness of the espresso. Finally, your greeted with more chocolate from the ganache, specked with notes of almond. Oh, and you get a caramelized crunch from the candied pecans on top. This cake is fudgy, nutty, and warming, all you could ever ask for.
Texture: The cake is soft and bouncy, with a moist crumb, as all chocolate cakes should. See more on how we achieve this in the next paragraph. My favorite part however is how the frosting becomes gooey when sandwiched between the layers of cake. It all sort of melts together, creating the ultimate texture and flavor. For a little added crunch, I top the cake with cozy and sweet caramelized pecans.
Ease: Ok I won’t lie, this cake isn’t easy. You’ve got to reduce the Guinness, whip egg whites, make the batter, whip up some caramel for the frosting, candy pecans, and make a ganche. And of course, you have to assemble it (while trying not to eat it all which is honestly the hardest part). It’s a lot of components, and it will take some time. But I pinky promise that it will all be worth it when you take that first bite.
The Cake
Alrighty, let’s talk cake. The cake itself is a fudgy and fluffy chocolate Guinness cake. In order to get the Guinness flavor across, we reduce it for about 30 minuts on the stove. This intensifies the flavor of the Guinness, but reduces the amount of liquid we are adding to the cake. While I was experimenting with this recipe, I found that the alcohol messes up the texture a little bit. I figured it had something to do with the alcohol interacting with the rest of the ingredients. The first time I made it, the cakes were flat and sunk in the middle. A few tests later I ended up adding more baking powder, whiping the egg whites, and baking the cakes in smaller pans. This gives us tall and fluffy cakes, but keeps the addictingly good flavor. Pass me another slice please!
The Caramel Frosting
This frosting might just be the most complicated frosting I have ever made. But man oh man it is good. To start off, we gotta make caramel. Yes we are making the caramel. It’s a little bit of a pain, but caramel is delicious so it’s ok. Just to clear up any confusion, caramel is made by slowly cooking sugar until it melts down. Traditionally, caramel is made with white sugar cooked by itself before adding other ingredients. For this frosting we’re technically cheating a little because we are cooking brown sugar with butter and cream, but it tastes just as good and gives us the right texture. Let that cool down and thicken for about 20 ish minutes. Then we can add some powdered sugar, heavy cream, and espresso powder. Whip that up until you’re left with irresistibly gooey and creamy frosting. In some instances, the frosting has turned out a little grainy, which is a result of slightly overcooking the caramel over too high of a heat. If this happens, still use the frosting! It will melt into the cake when we layer it up, and no one will be able to tell. Oh and one more thing! You won’t have enough of the frosting to get a thick layer on the outside of the cake, so we use some ganache to make it look pretty!
Toppings
To top of this crazy cake situation we’ve got two things. First off, a chocolate ganche. Ok, so I might be a little addicted to chocolate ganche. But how could I not be? Its creamy, buttery, fudgy, and EASY. But don’t worry, I spiced things up a little with this one. This is an almond chocolate ganache, because honestly why not? The subtle nuttiness goes super well with everything else in this cake. And all you need is a little bit of almond extract. Spread this tasty ganache all over the outside of the cake and it’s taken to the next level. Finally, for the finishing touch, I top the cake with some candied pecans. The added nutty crunch is irresistible, and it ties together the caramel in the frosting with the nuttiness in the ganache. You won’t be able to refuse a piece of this cake, I promise.
Guinness Chocolate Cake with Espresso Caramel Frosting
Ingredients
Guinness Chocolate Cake
- 1 12 ounce bottle Guinness beer
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) unslated butter melted and slightly cooled
- 3 large egg yolks at room temperature
- ¾ cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
Caramel Frosting
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter cut into four pieces
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 Tablespoons heavy cream divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1½ teaspoons espresso powder
Candied Pecans
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup pecans
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
Almond Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsley chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ⅛-¼ teaspoon almond extract *optional, but encouraged.
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
Start by reducing the Guinness
- Pour the Guinness in a small saucepan and allow it to come to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Allow it to simmer for 20-30 minutes or until reduced to about ¾ cup. Within the last 15-20 minutes of reducing, start making the cake. We want the Guinness to still be hot when we add it to the batter so it can bloom the cocoa powder, releasing more chocolate flavor.
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the sides and bottom of three 8-inch* cake pans with butter and then line the bottoms with parchment paper. Then grease the parchment paper. We want to make sure the cake doesn't stick.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg yolks, and sour cream unil light and combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the egg whites on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. This will take around 3-4 minutes. Stiff peaks is when the egg whites hold a shape when whisk is lifted out of the bowl.
- Slowly pour the buttermilk mixture and ¾ cup of the still hot reduced Guinness into the dry ingredients, whisking constantly until smooth.Then, using a large rubber spatula, fold the whipped egg whites into the batter, being careful not to deflate the egg whites too much. You want to fold until just combined, and there are no longer white streaks in the batter.
- Scoop/pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top bounces back when poked, and the cake is pulling away from the sides. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans.
While the cakes cool, make the caramel
- In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter and brown sugar on medium heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, whisk vigerously to make sure the sugar and butter are really combined. Then, add 3 Tablespoons of the heavy cream and the salt. Stir to combine. Let the caramel boil, whisking every 30 seconds or so until the temperature reads 230°F on an instant read thermometer. This usually takes about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and give the mixture a quick whisk. Allow the caramel to cool slightly in the pan before transferring to a large heatproof mixing bowl to cool for 20 minutes. Caramel will thicken during this time, and may form a skin. That's Ok!
While the caramel cools, make the candied pecans
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan add the granulated sugar and allow it to melt over medium heat until smooth and amber colored, stirring occasionally. In may seem like the sugar isn't melting, but it eventually will and you have to keep your eye on it because it happens quickly. Once melted, add the pecans and stir until the nuts are evenly coated in the sugar. They will clump together. Then, add the butter and stir vigerously to combine. Some of the butter may not get absorbed into the caramel, thats ok. The butter will help seperate the nuts. Transfer the caramel pecan mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Allow to cool completely before breaking into pieces.
Make the frosting
- Sift the confectioners sugar into the slightly cooled caramel and add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream. Using a hand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the frosting on low speed until ingredients are just combined. Then, turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the espresso powder and beat until combined. If frosting is still chunky, add another Tablespoon of cream and whip until smooth.
Assemble the cake
- Invert one of the layers of cake onto a cake stand. I like to put them on upside down for a flat surface on the top of the cake. Spread a glob (about 1/3 cup) of frosting on top of the cake in an even layer. Place another cake layer on top, the bottom facing up. Spread another glob of frosting on top and then place the final cake on top (again, upside down). Spread the remaining frosting over the sides and top of the cake. It will be a thin layer. Place the cake in the refrigerator to firm up for just 10 minutes while we make the ganache.
Make the ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow to come to a gentle simmer.( not a boil, that's too hot and will result in split ganache) . Once simmering, pour over the chopped chocolate. Allow the mixture to rest for 2-3 minutes before slowly stirring with a spoon until combined. Letting it sit will allow the chocolate to soften, resulting in a smooth ganache. Once smooth, add the almond extract, vanilla extract, and salt and stir to combine. Allow to cool slightly, for just 3-5 minutes.
- Pour the ganache over the top of the slightly chilled cake and use a large icing spatula to smooth it out on the top and sides of the cake. I run a bench scraper along the sides of the cake to make it smooth. Top the cake with the caramelized pecans. You could also top it with sprinkles, chopped chocolate, or whipped cream. Whatever you fancy!
- Allow the cake to sit sealed at room temperature for at least an hour before slicing and serving to ensure it maintains its shape. Cake stays fresh sealed at room temperature for up to five days.