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Mary Berry Guinness Cake Recipe

Mary Berry Guinness Cake Recipe

Mary Berry’s Guinness cake is a deeply moist, dark chocolate and stout cake with a creamy cream cheese frosting — one of the most spectacular celebration cakes I make.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Servings: 12 Slices
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Calories: 590
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Guinness Chocolate Cake:
  • 250 ml Guinness or stout room temperature
  • 250 g unsalted butter cubed
  • 75 g cocoa powder sifted
  • 400 g golden caster sugar
  • 150 ml soured cream room temperature
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 275 g plain flour sifted
  • 2½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp fine salt
  • Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 300 g full-fat cream cheese room temperature
  • 150 g unsalted butter softened
  • 500 g icing sugar sifted twice
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Pinch of fine salt

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 170°C / 150°C fan / Gas 3. Grease and line a deep 23cm springform tin.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Pile frosting generously on top of cake — spread roughly and cloud-like. Do not frost the sides. Serve.

Notes

The Guinness deepens the chocolate flavour — the finished cake does not taste of beer.
The batter is very liquid — do not add more flour. The liquid batter gives the moist, dense crumb.
Soured cream gives the slight tang and exceptional keeping quality — stays moist for 5 days.
Frost only the top — the dark sides and white top look like a pint of Guinness, which is the point.
Do not overbeat the cream cheese frosting — it becomes liquid and slides off the cake.
Freeze unfrosted for up to 3 months.
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