Guinness Chocolate Fudge Cake is a rich & chocolate-y cake with an entire cup of Guinness in the batter. The cake is topped with a whipped white chocolate Guinness Ganache frosting.

This recipe is based on a mistake. The plan was to make Guinness Brownies with a Guinness icing. As I often do when I’m developing a new recipe, I started from an existing recipe. The starting point for this recipe was my Habanero Brownies. Those brownies have great flavor and a nice fudgy texture without being super sweet or greasy.

I knew that adding Guinness to the batter would make brownies that are more cakey and less fudgy. I’ll state right here that I’m firmly in the fudgy brownie camp. No cakey brownies for me. If I want cake, I’ll make cake. If I want brownies, I’ll make brownies.

Anyway, to compensate for the extra liquid from the Guinness I increased the amount of butter and chocolate in the recipe and added a couple of egg yolks. I figured those changes would keep the batter rich enough to bake up like a brownie.

So, ok, it’s Guinness Chocolate Fudge Cake!

Well, I was wrong. While the pan was in the oven I saw that the batter was puffing up more than a brownie would. Once it was out of the oven and cooled, I sliced it open. I immediately discovered that what I had was a very moist, dense cake — or a very cakey brownie. But I really loved the flavor and didn’t want to reduce the amount of Guinness in the batter.

In the end, since I’m anti-cakey brownie and pro-fudgy cake, I decided this is a cake recipe and not a brownie recipe after all. The whipped, white chocolate Guinness ganache on top melts in your mouth and is the perfect sweet match for what I’m now calling a Guinness Chocolate Fudge Cake.

I love the way the tan ganache on top of the brown cake echos the colors of a pint of Guinness with a head of foam. Perfect!

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4.34 from 15 reviews

Guinness Chocolate Fudge Cake with Guinness Ganache

By: Eileen Gray

Guinness Chocolate Fudge Cake is a rich & chocolate-y cake with an entire cup of Guinness in the batter. The cake is topped with a whipped white chocolate Guinness Ganache frosting.

Prep Time30

Bake Time30

Total Time1

24 servings

Ingredients

6 ¼ oz all purpose flour (1 ¼ cups)
½ teaspoon table salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
8 ounces unsalted butter (cut into 1" chunks)
8 oz Guinness Stout (1 cup)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 oz granulated sugar (¾ cup)
6 oz brown sugar (¾ cup)
4 large eggs
2 large yolks

Guinness Ganache

8 oz white chocolate (chopped)
1 oz butter
2 oz heavy cream (¼ cup)
2 oz Guinness (¼ cup)

Instructions

Prep the pan

Butter a 13x9 inch baking pan. Line the pan with either parchment paper in one direction. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Make the batter

Sift together 6 ¼ oz all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon table saltand ¾ teaspoon baking powder, set aside.
Combine the 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate and 8 ounces unsalted butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir to combine. Microwave in 30 second increments (stirring between) until all the chocolate is melted.
Stir 8 oz Guinness Stout and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the chocolate mixture, the mix will thicken. Add 6 oz granulated sugar and 6 oz brown sugar to the chocolate mixture, stir to combine. Add4 large eggs and 2 large yolks and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (25-30 minutes). Cool to room temperature then lift the cake out of the pan.

Make the Guinness ganache

Melt 8 oz white chocolate and 1 oz butter in the microwave, stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning. Microwave 2 oz heavy cream until its scalding hot. Add the warm cream to the ganache (it will thicken up). Add 2 oz Guinness to the ganache and stir until smooth. Cool the ganache to room temperature.
Whip the ganache until it lightens in color and is aerated. It should be the texture of buttercream. Spread the ganache evenly over the cake. Refrigerate until the ganache is set,
Cut into 24 squares (for clean edges wipe the knife with a damp cloth between cuts).