Nigella Lawson's chocolate Guinness cake recipe
Share recipe
Share this recipe with someone who wants to bake for Macmillan.
Key information
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 - 60 minutes
Serves: 12
Recipe difficulty rating: Medium
Allergens: Remember to provide a list of potential allergens for each item served at your Coffee Morning event so people can clearly see what ingredients they contain. You can use our cake labels, but make sure you write clearly in block capitals and black ink.
Ingredients
For the cake
250ml Guinness
250g Unsalted butter
75g Cocoa powder
400g Caster sugar
150ml Sour cream
2 Large free range eggs
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
275g Plain flour
2½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
For the icing
300g Cream cheese
150g Icing sugar
2 tsp Cornflour
125ml Double cream (or whipping cream)
Advice on ingredient substitutes
-
Vegan
- Cocoa powder: Many cocoa powders are naturally plant-based. However, make sure to check the ingredients to confirm there are no animal products. Most cocoa powders will also have the vegan label on them.
- Stout: Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout are now vegan. And many other Irish stouts do offer vegan options. However, you should check the ingredients to see if it is free from animal-derived fining agents.
- Butter: Use a plant-based alternative.
- Sour cream: Replace with a unsweetened plant-based yogurt or coconut cream.
- Eggs: You can use vegan alternatives like plain vegan yoghurt (1 heaped tbsp per egg), aquafaba (2 tbsp per egg, whipped for a minute), apple sauce (1/4 cup or 3tbsp per egg), mashed bananas (1/2 ripe banana per egg), flaxseed (1tbsp ground flaxseed with 3tbsp of water per egg), or a vegan egg replacement. The key with vegan egg replacements is making sure you get the rise, if the recipe calls for creaming butter and sugar together whip it until it is really light and fluffy and consider using self raising flour instead of plain.
- Cream cheese for frosting: Many brands now offer a vegan cream cheese.
- Double cream: Use a plant based alternative or coconut cream (chilled and whipped for a thicker consistency).
-
Gluten free
- Flour: Replace with a gluten free flour alternative. These are usually available in the free from section in most supermarkets.
- Stout: Guinness contains gluten, but there are other Irish stouts that are gluten free.
- Bicarbonate of soda: Unlike baking powder, bicarbonate of soda is naturally gluten free.
How to prepare Nigella's chocolate Guinness cake
- Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350ºF, and line a 23cm /9-inch springform tin.
- Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan, add the butter and heat until melted, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
- Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack.
- For the icing, whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and cornflour and then beat to combine.
- If using double cream, add it and beat until you have a spreadable consistency. If using whipping cream, whisk into soft peaks, then add roughly a quarter into the cream cheese mixture and once this is combined, fold in the rest.
- Ice the top of the cake and voila, you have a showstopper Guinness cake for your guests to enjoy.
Copyright © Nigella Lawson 2004. From FEAST: FOOD THAT CELEBRATES LIFE by Nigella Lawson, published by Chatto & Windus at £30
