Anna Louise Guinness cake is the cake I make for anyone who says they do not like chocolate cake. The Guinness gives the chocolate a depth and a slightly roasted, slightly malty character that transforms a standard chocolate cake into something specifically and memorably wonderful.
The cream cheese frosting on top — white, smooth, and generous — gives the cake the appearance of a freshly poured pint of Guinness when it is assembled, which is a detail I love.
A dark, almost black cake topped with a thick, white, creamy frosting that looks exactly like the head on a stout is simultaneously clever and completely appealing.
I use this cake as a birthday cake, a celebration cake, and as the cake I bring to gatherings when I want to bring something that people will talk about. It always works.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Guinness Cake
For the Guinness Chocolate Cake
- 250ml Guinness or other stout — at room temperature
- 250g unsalted butter, cubed
- 75g good quality cocoa powder, sifted
- 400g golden caster sugar
- 150ml soured cream, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 275g plain flour, sifted
- 2½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp fine salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 300g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 150g unsalted butter, softened
- 500g icing sugar, sifted twice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Pinch of fine salt
How to Make Mary Berry Guinness Cake
Step 1 — Preheat and Prepare
Preheat your oven to 170°C / 150°C fan / Gas 3. Grease a deep 23cm round springform tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.
Step 2 — Make the Guinness Chocolate Batter
Put the Guinness and butter into a large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Stir until the butter has completely melted. Remove from the heat.
Whisk in the sifted cocoa powder and golden caster sugar until smooth. The mixture will be very dark and deeply fragrant.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the soured cream, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add to the Guinness and chocolate mixture — whisk until completely smooth and combined.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and salt directly into the liquid. Whisk until a smooth, very dark, slightly liquid batter forms. The batter will be much more liquid than a standard cake batter — this is correct and is what gives the specific dense, moist crumb.
Step 3 — Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared tin. It will fill the tin quite generously.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the very centre comes out clean. The cake will look very dark — almost black — on top, which is correct. Check with a skewer rather than relying on colour.
Cover loosely with baking parchment after 35 minutes if the top is darkening too quickly.
Cool in the tin for 30 minutes. Release the springform. Cool completely on a wire rack — at least two hours. The cream cheese frosting must go on a completely cooled cake.
Step 4 — Make the Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat the room-temperature cream cheese and softened butter together for two to three minutes until completely smooth. Add the double-sifted icing sugar in three batches, beating well after each. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Beat for one to two minutes until smooth.
Do not overbeat — cream cheese frosting becomes more liquid the longer it is beaten. Stop as soon as it is smooth and hold its shape. Refrigerate for fifteen minutes if it seems soft.
Step 5 — Frost and Serve
The Guinness cake is typically served as a single deep layer with a generous, slightly irregular mound of cream cheese frosting on top — like the head of a pint. Do not frost the sides.
Pile the frosting generously on top of the cooled cake. Spread roughly with a palette knife — slightly uneven and cloud-like rather than perfectly smooth. The contrast between the very dark cake and the white frosting is the whole visual point.
My Top Tips For Best Mary Berry Guinness Cake
The Guinness makes the chocolate taste more of itself. The malt and roasted barley in the stout enhance and deepen the cocoa flavour. The finished cake does not taste of beer — it tastes of the most intensely chocolatey, most deeply flavoured chocolate cake you have had.
The batter is very liquid — do not add more flour. The Guinness, butter, eggs, and soured cream give a batter that is noticeably more liquid than a creamed butter cake. This liquid batter is what gives the dense, extraordinarily moist crumb that makes this cake so good.
The soured cream is essential. Soured cream gives the cake a slight tang and additional moisture that suits the dark chocolate and stout beautifully. It also gives the cake exceptional keeping quality — this cake stays moist for five days.
Frost only the top — never the sides. The visual contrast of the very dark cake sides and the white frosting on top — like a pint of Guinness — is the specific, clever look of this cake. Frosting the sides loses this completely.
Do not overbeat the cream cheese frosting. The same instruction as every cream cheese frosting recipe on this site. Beat until smooth, then stop. Overbeating makes it liquid and it will slide off the cake.
Serving Suggestions
As a birthday cake for anyone who loves chocolate and something a little different. At a St Patrick’s Day gathering. As a dinner party celebration cake that looks spectacular and tastes genuinely extraordinary.
How to Store Mary Berry Guinness Cake
At room temperature: The unfrosted cake stores wrapped in parchment for up to 5 days — it gets better every day.
In the fridge: The frosted cake stores covered for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
In the freezer: Freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months. Frost fresh after defrosting.
Mary Berry Guinness Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 170°C / 150°C fan / Gas 3. Grease and line a deep 23cm springform tin.
- Melt Guinness and butter together over medium-low heat. Whisk in cocoa and sugar until smooth. Whisk soured cream, eggs, and vanilla together — add to Guinness mixture. Sift in flour, bicarbonate of soda, and salt — whisk to a smooth, very dark, liquid batter.
- Pour into tin. Bake 50–60 minutes until skewer comes out clean. Cover loosely after 35 minutes if darkening. Cool in tin 30 minutes — release. Cool completely — 2 hours.
- Beat cream cheese and butter 2–3 minutes until smooth. Add icing sugar in 3 batches. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and salt — beat 1–2 minutes. Do not overbeat. Refrigerate 15 minutes if soft.
- Pile frosting generously on top of cake — spread roughly and cloud-like. Do not frost the sides. Serve.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a non-alcoholic stout?
Yes — non-alcoholic stout or dark porter gives a very similar result. The depth of flavour comes from the roasted barley and malt, which are present in the non-alcoholic versions.
Can I add chocolate ganache instead of cream cheese frosting?
Yes — a dark chocolate ganache gives a different but equally wonderful result. Pour the warm ganache over the cooled cake and let it set.
Can I make this as a two-layer cake?
Yes — divide the batter between two 20cm tins. Reduce the baking time to 35 to 40 minutes. Fill between the layers and frost the top and sides with the cream cheese frosting.
Why is my Guinness cake sinking in the middle?
The oven door was opened too early or the bicarbonate of soda was past its use-by date. Do not open the oven before 45 minutes and check the bicarbonate date.
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