Chocolate Stout & Irish Cream Cake

This is part of my Guinness-inspired bakes collection.

It's a classic beery chocolate sponge, drenched with Irish cream and topped with a beautiful creamy mascarpone icing, that mimics the frothy top. Stout gives chocolate cake a rich, malty, almost treacley flavour.

I can not stress enough how bloody beaut this cake tastes!

Chocolate Stout & Irish Cream Cake

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 250ml stout - preferably Guinness if it's for St Patrick's day, but if you've got a good local brewery then of course support them by using their darkest.

• 250g butter or baking block

• 75g cocoa powder

• 400g sugar. Caster will work, but light brown soft will add a dense fudginess

• 150ml soured cream or plain full fat yogurt

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tbsp good vanilla

• 275g plain flour

• 2.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

• about 75ml Irish cream - but measure with your heart. Just don't make it too soggy!

For the mascarpone icing:

• 500g mascarpone

• Couple of tablespoons plain yogurt

• 100g icing sugar

• 1 tsp good vanilla

• 1tbsp Irish cream

  
  
  
  

Method:

1. Grease and line an 8" cake tin. Switch the oven on to 170C/150C fan and put the rack in the lower middle part of the oven.

2. Get a big pan, gently melt the butter or baking block, then whisk in the stout. Remove from the heat.

3. In a mixing bowl, weight the cocoa and sugar, then whisk into the pan.

4. Then use that bowl to sift together your flour and bicarb.

5. Beat together the sour cream or yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Whisk these into the pan until well combined, then gently fold in the flour and bicarb.

6. Pour into the tin. If it's a loose bottom, place it on a baking sheet so the batter doesn't escape.

7. Bake for up to an hour until the middle springs back and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for an hour or it'll fall apart! Before it has cooled, drench with the Irish cream.

8. Meanwhile make the icing: Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Give it a taste and add a little more yogurt if you wish.

9. Once the cake is cooled, place it on a nice serving plate and top with the icing.