Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting

 

Woo-hoo! Today is St. Patrick’s Day!!! It is here, it is here! But this year I am parting with tradition a bit. I have always shared a cupcake recipe for my last post of my St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon. However, today you are getting a full-sized cake! And when I say full sized, I mean it. This Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting is a whopper!

Kind of like my waist size after I gobbled it all up…but whatever! It was completely worth every inch it added as well as every additional minute I spent in the gym afterwards working it off. This imposing cake features a layer of silky, dreamy Baileys swiss meringue buttercream nestled between two big, tall layers of moist, rich and intensely chocolatey cake which has been frosted with a decadent chocolate ganache. The Baileys Buttercream makes another appearance as the garnish on top of the cake. A chocolate lovers bliss I tell you!

Even the Husband, who doesn’t really go in for chocolate desserts, couldn’t get enough of it. He must have asked me a dozen times to make sure I saved this recipe. This Guinness Chocolate cake will definitely make an impression!

So I do apologize for not sharing a cupcake recipe. Once I made this cake and got my first little taste of it, I just couldn’t wait to share it with you. I suppose you could make it into cupcakes if you wished, but I gotta admit I am a fan of the stature of this full sized decadent delight!

Well it looks like I’ve gotta get going…my blogging is done for a while. I’ve got some Patrick’s Day festivities to attend to. So see you in a week or so, Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daiobh (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)!

• Servings: 1 (excuse my french ) - Big Ass Cake, 16 servings or so depending how you slice it
• Difficulty: moderate - nothing too difficult, but lots of steps!
• Print

recipe adapted from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

For the Cake

• 2 cups stout or dark beer, such as Guinness
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups Dutch-process cocoa
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream

For the external Chocolate Ganache frosting

• 1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the internal Baileys Buttercream frosting

• 2 Extra – Large Egg Whites
• 3/4 Cups Sugar
• 1 Cups (2 sticks) Butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, cool but not cold
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8″ or two 9″ cake pans, and line them with parchment paper circles. Be sure your 9″ pans are at least 2″ deep.

For the cake: Place the stout and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.

Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sour cream.

Add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.

Add the flour mixture and mix together at slow speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute.

Divide the batter equally among the prepared pans.

Bake the layers for 35 minutes for 8″ pans, or 45 to 50 minutes for 9″ pans, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely before frosting.

For the Ganache frosting: Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is completely smooth.

Stir in the vanilla. Refrigerate until the icing is spreadable, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

For the Baileys frosting:

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites and sugar together. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water but do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved and the color is milky white, about 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the egg mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium-high speed (start slowly at first) until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with the paddle attachment. Add the cubed butter and beat on medium-high speed (start slowly at first) until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If the buttercream looks like it is breaking, don’t worry, it will eventually come together.

Add the salt and Baileys Irish Cream and beat for 5 seconds to combine.

To assemble: Trim one cake layer to have a flat top, if necessary (otherwise the layer will crack when you place it upside down on your cake plate).

Line the edges of a serving plate with parchment or waxed paper to keep it clean, and then place the layer upside down on top. Spread 2/3 cup of the Baileys Buttercream over just the top of the layer.

Top with another cake layer, top side down. 

Spread the chocolate ganache frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Remove the parchment or waxed paper. 

Place remaining Baileys Buttercream frosting in piping bag and pipe onto the top of the cake. Garnish with chocolate candies if desired.

Enjoy!

Useful links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Guinness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting:

 

Kitchen Aid Artisan Series 5 Qt. Stand Mixer

Oxo Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Wilton Cake Leveler

Wilton 9″ x 2″ high cake pans – set of two

Ateco disposable piping bags

King Arthur Bensdorp Dutch Process Cocoa Powder