Guinness Chocolate Cake Is the Ultimate Rich + Fudgy Treat — Easy Shortcut Recipe

Alexandria Brooks

Mon, March 11, 2024 at 5:08 PM UTC

4 min read

Generate Key Takeaways

Whether it's St. Patrick's Day or frankly any day, one of our favorite decadent treats to enjoy is Guinness chocolate cake. It’s a rich dessert that uses a surprise ingredient in both cake batter and icing: Guinness beer. This Irish stout beer enhances the cake’s chocolatey flavor and keeps it moist. Keep reading to learn more about this cake and our simple recipe that will make your festivities extra special!

The ingredients in Guinness chocolate cake

The batter for this cake combines baking staples like flour, cocoa powder, butter or oil and eggs with a fun bonus ingredient: Guinness. Once mixed, the batter is divided between cake pan or muffin tin openings and baked. The cooled cake is then topped with a chocolate or cream cheese frosting before serving. Barrington Brewery in Barrington Hill, Massachusetts, is credited with popularizing this cake as the establishment shared their original recipe in a 2002 issue of Bon Appétit. This cake has been a staple treat for occasions like St. Patrick's Day.

How this dark beer enhances the cake’s flavor

Although beer isn't a standard ingredient for chocolate cake, Guinness is one delicous exception to that. Its rich taste, which is a byproduct of the brewing process, pairs well with the sweet and earthy taste of chocolate. And as the Irish beer's alcohol content evaporates during baking, it leaves behind its unique flavor.

"Basically, we just take one of those ingredients from beer, barley, hops, yeast, water, we take the grain, barley, and we roast it like you would roast coffee," Jimmy Callahan, Guinness Brewery Ambassador, explains in a video. "And that's where you get the dark color of the beer, and then also those coffee, chocolate and toffee flavors." While this namesake beer gives this treat its signature flavor, you can use other fragrant liquids like porter beer or brewed coffee. (Click through for the best Irish drinks to enjoy on St. Paddy’s Day and all year round!)

Pastry chef's easy shortcut for whipping up this cake

If you're short on time but still want a tasty cake, use a box of devil's food cake mix for the batter. It cuts down time since you don't have to measure each ingredient. Also, one brand of mix that's earned a pastry chef's seal of approval is Betty Crocker's Super Moist Devil’s Food Cake Mix. "This particular type of Betty Crocker cake mix has pudding in the mix, which helps retain the liquid on the cake and makes for a more moist end product,” Amanda Rose, executive pastry chef at Desserts First in Castro Valley, California, says. When using store-bought mix for this cake, follow the recipe listed on the box and swap water for Guinness. This infuses the cake with the beer's nutty and toffee flavors in no time.

How to make Guinness chocolate cake

Our test kitchen's Guinness Chocolate Cake recipe is the ultimate indulgent treat to include in your St. Patrick's Day dessert spread. It uses 5 key ingredients that you may already have in your pantry. (Note: Directions and cake measurements are based on the Super Moist boxed cake mix, but adjust accordingly to your preferred brand.)