Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day: Chocolate Guinness Cake [RECIPE]

Guinness Cake is super popular in Ireland because Ireland's favorite drink happens to be...yep- Guinness. A Guinness cake is really easy to make and will last a week or so as long as you keep it covered. So, if today is the only day you've got some extra time and you trust you've got enough willpower to not dive into the cake before St. Patrick's Day, you could make it today and save it for next week.

If you don't have Guinness, any other stout or porter will work. If you're not crazy about putting alcohol into you food, you can substitute the Guinness with anything liquid you like, but I recommend non-alcoholic malt beer.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Guinness
• ½ cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup baking cocoa
• 2 beaten eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

• Grease a 9 inch *springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup Guinness and ½ cup butter until butter is melted.
• Remove from heat and whisk in 2 cups of sugar and ¾ cup baking cocoa until blended. Add in 2 beaten eggs, ⅔ cup sour cream, and 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
• Combine 2 cups of all-purpose baking flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda.
• Whisk this into the beer mixture until smooth and pour the batter into the pan.
• Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes and cool on a wire rack. In a large bowl, beat 8 ounces of softened cream cheese until fluffy.
• Add 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar and ½ cup of heavy whipping cream and beat until smooth. Place the cake on a platter or cake stand and ice the top of the cake.

*A springform pan is a two-piece pan that not only has sides that can be removed but the bottom comes out too. There is a round base and an interlocking band, usually 2 to 3 inches high, that forms the sides, opening and closing with the flick of a latch. The pan pieces are assembled for baking, and then, once the contents have cooked and cooled, the band is opened and removed.