Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Head Chef Patrick decided to bust out the baking tins ready for St. Paddy’s Day on Tuesday 17^th to make these moist, rich Guinness Cakes.

Bring out your Irish side and celebrate the occasion with this fresh, easy, crowd pleasing recipe.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Chefs!

Guinness Cakes (makes around 18 individual cakes)

250ml (9fl oz) Guinness
400g (14oz) caster sugar
290g (10oz) plain flour
250g (9oz) unsalted butter
150ml (5fl oz) buttermilk
90g (3oz) cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Cream Cheese Frosting

140g (4½oz) cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)
60g (1¾oz) unsalted butter, softened
300g (10½oz) icing sugar

Method

1. Put your butter and Guinness into a saucepan on medium heat and once the butter melts take the pan off the heat. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder.
2. Put the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla bean paste (or essence if you can’t find paste) in a bowl and whisk them together. Pour in the chocolatey Guinness mixture and whisk it all together.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the baking powder into a bowl followed by the Guinness Mixture and use a spatula or a wooden spoon to gently bring everything together.
4. Pre-heat your oven to 170°C (325°F)/gas mark 3
5. Line some baking moulds completely with baking parchment. Make sure you cover the sides and the bottom (BTW, it’s a lot easier if you wipe a little butter on the baking moulds first as the parchment will stick to it).
6. Fill the cake moulds halfway with cake mixture and put them on the middle shelf of the oven for 30-40 mins. To test they are ready slide a knife into one and if it comes out clean/not covered in cake mixture you’re good to go.
7. Meanwhile make your cream cheese frosting. Put the icing sugar and slightly softened butter (i.e. take it out the fridge for an hour before) in a bowl and mix it until you get a fine crumb-like texture. Add in the cream cheese and whisk it really thoroughly until it’s light and fluffy.
8. Once the cakes have completely cooled down top with the frosting and get stuck in!

Check out the video here: