Things guaranteed to make a Monday better: fluffy, malty chocolate cake and rich Irish cream frosting. # 392: Guinness Irish Cream Cake

Happy St. Paddy’s day! While there’s no green in this cake, there’s plenty of Guinness and Irish cream to make up for it.

Adding beer to the batter is mostly for the flavor and the fun of it, but it technically the carbonation also contributes to a light fluffy crumb. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Chocolate loves to hang out with other warm, bitter flavors like coffee, dark beers and spice blends like gingerbread. It’s that partner that actually pulls their weight in the group project – allowing for a deeper cocoa taste without overpowering the bonus flavor.

Catch me googling shamrock shapes after only managing to make a cacao nib blob. There wasn’t enough room for a lucky fourth leaf so you’ll just have to imagine it.

Small cake bonuses: half a beer for the baker to drink! Or in the case of the pregnant baker, a mini beer for her long-suffering dish washer extraordinaire.

Tis a whisk-only recipe: you melt the butter instead of creaming it with the sugar at room temperature. Added bonus of the warm liquid butter blooming the cocoa powder – no need for hot water or coffee.

Welp, sifting the flour would have been worth the extra 3 minutes, considering how thin and delicate the batter is. Do as I say, not as I do?

Irish cream has the perfect texture to be swapped out for milk or heavy cream in a classic buttercream recipe. Voila!

Paddling until the butter is fully smooth.

Then switching to the whisk attachment for added air. Bring on the fluff!

Noms.

The initial decoration debate: to slice a second layer and fill it evenly or to leave it as a tall boy and pipe on an extra fluffy hat?

Evenly spread out buttercream won.

🍀

Happy munching!

Cake recipe from: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_guinness_cake/

Frosting recipe from: https://chelsweets.com/baileys-frosting/#mv-creation-133-jtr