Indulge in a truly extraordinary dessert with this rich, fudgy Guinness chocolate cake, lavishly layered with a decadent caramel chocolate fudge frosting. While it’s absolutely perfect for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, its profound flavors and moist texture make it a show-stopping dessert for any special occasion or simply a luxurious treat throughout the year.

There’s a reason why Guinness stout is a beloved ingredient in baking, especially when paired with chocolate. The distinct coffee, malt, and subtle cherry notes of Guinness don’t just add moisture; they intricately complement and deepen the flavors of rich chocolate and smooth caramel fudge frosting, creating an unparalleled depth that regular chocolate cakes often lack. This Guinness chocolate cake is so irresistibly delicious that you’ll find yourself craving it far beyond seasonal holidays!

For those looking to expand their festive St. Patrick’s Day menu, explore more of my chef-developed recipes, including a hearty Irish stew, authentic traditional Irish soda bread with raisins (or this rustic Irish brown bread), and a wonderfully soft and pillowy loaf of potato bread.

Table of Contents

• Why You Will Love This Guinness Chocolate Cake
• Professional Tips for Making Guinness Chocolate Cake
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• Possible Variations
• How to Make Guinness Chocolate Cake
• Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Guinness Chocolate Cake Recipe
• Before You Go

Why You Will Love This Guinness Chocolate Cake

This isn’t just another chocolate cake; it’s an experience. Here’s why this Guinness Chocolate Cake will quickly become a favorite in your recipe repertoire:

• Guinness Deepens and Complements the Chocolate Flavor. Guinness stout is renowned for its complex flavor profile, featuring prominent notes of roasted barley, coffee, and even hints of dark fruit like cherry. When incorporated into a chocolate cake, these elements don’t just add a unique taste; they profoundly enhance and deepen the chocolate, making it richer and more sophisticated. The bitterness of the stout perfectly balances the sweetness of the cake, resulting in a harmonious, multi-layered flavor that is simply irresistible.
• Remarkably Moist and Rich Cake Texture. Forget dry, crumbly cakes! This recipe is engineered for ultimate moisture and richness. The combination of light brown sugar (which adds molasses notes and moisture), high-quality chocolate, and sour cream works synergistically. Sour cream, in particular, contributes both fat and acidity, inhibiting gluten formation for a tender crumb while keeping the cake wonderfully moist and flavorful.
• Silky Smooth and Decadent Caramel Fudge Frosting. Prepare to fall in love with this frosting. It starts with a luxurious ganache base, crafted from rich dark chocolate and heavy cream, which provides an incredibly smooth and intense chocolate flavor. The addition of salted caramel sauce elevates it further, introducing a buttery, sweet, and slightly salty counterpoint that makes the frosting truly luscious and utterly decadent. It’s the perfect crown for this spectacular cake.

Professional Tips for Making Guinness Chocolate Cake

Achieving a bakery-worthy cake is all about the details. Follow these professional tips to ensure your Guinness Chocolate Cake turns out perfectly every time:

• Embrace Room Temperature Ingredients. This is not just a suggestion; it’s a golden rule for baking! Using room-temperature butter, eggs, and sour cream is crucial for creating the best-textured cake. When ingredients are at the same temperature, they emulsify more effectively, forming a smooth, uniform batter that traps air better. This leads to a higher rise and a more tender, even crumb. Cold ingredients can cause the batter to curdle and result in a dense cake.
• Ensure the Cake is Fully Cooled Before Frosting. Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to frosting! If your cake layers are even slightly warm, the heat will melt the rich caramel fudge frosting, causing it to slide right off the cake and create a messy, disappointing result. Allow ample time for the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack, usually several hours, or even overnight if preparing in advance.
• Handle the Fudge Frosting with Care – Avoid Over-Whisking. This caramel fudge frosting is built on a ganache base, which is a delicate emulsion. Over-whisking can “break” the ganache, causing it to become greasy or separated. Whisk gently and only until smooth and emulsified. If separation occurs, don’t panic! You can often save it by adding a small amount of cold heavy cream (a tablespoon at a time) and gently folding it in with a spatula until it comes back together.
• Serve at Room Temperature for Optimal Flavor and Texture. While many cakes are fine chilled, this Guinness Chocolate Cake, with its rich caramel fudge frosting, truly shines when served at room temperature. The flavors are more pronounced and complex, and both the cake and frosting achieve their silkiest, most luxurious texture. If stored in the refrigerator, allow the cake to sit out for at least 2 hours before serving to let it come to temperature.
• Proper Pan Preparation. Always butter or spray your cake pans thoroughly and line the bottoms with parchment paper circles. This extra step guarantees easy release and prevents your beautiful cake layers from sticking.
• Measure Precisely. Baking is a science, and accurate measurements are key. Especially with flour, use a kitchen scale for the most precise results, or spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a straight edge rather than scooping directly from the bag.

Ingredients & Substitutions 

Carefully selected ingredients are the foundation of this incredible cake. Here’s a breakdown and some helpful substitution notes:

For the Cake: 

• Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder: Dutch-processed cocoa powder is an unsweetened cocoa powder that has been treated with an alkaline solution. This neutralizes its acidity, meaning it won’t react with baking soda or baking powder in the same way natural cocoa would. It provides a rich, deep chocolate flavor and a darker color to your cake. While preferred for its distinct flavor and color, you can use natural cocoa powder if that is all you have on hand, but the flavor profile and color may vary slightly.
• Bittersweet Chocolate: I highly recommend bittersweet chocolate (around 60-70% cocoa solids) for this recipe because its inherent bitterness helps to perfectly balance the overall sweetness of the cake, creating a more sophisticated and less cloying flavor. Dark chocolate may be substituted in a pinch; aim for a higher percentage (60% or above) to maintain that balance and prevent the cake from becoming overly sweet.
• Espresso Powder: This is your secret weapon! Espresso powder doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee; instead, it magically enhances and intensifies the chocolate flavor and the inherent notes of Guinness, making them both pop. Don’t skip it!
• Guinness Beer: The star ingredient! The recipe specifically calls for Guinness for its unique roasted malt, coffee, and subtle fruity undertones that beautifully complement chocolate. You’ll only use ¾ cup for the cake, so you’ll have some left to enjoy alongside your baking, or to use in other delightful recipes like these St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes!
• All-purpose Flour: Provides the primary structure for the cake. Ensure it’s measured accurately, preferably by weight for consistency.
• Kosher Salt: Crucial for balancing and enhancing all the other flavors.
• Baking Soda: This leavening agent reacts with the acidic components in the sour cream and Guinness to create carbon dioxide bubbles, giving the cake its lift and tender texture.
• Sour Cream: A powerhouse ingredient! Sour cream provides just enough moisture to hydrate the flour and sufficient fat to inhibit excessive gluten formation, resulting in a wonderfully tender crumb. Its acidity is essential for reacting with the baking soda, ensuring a perfect rise. Full-fat Greek yogurt can be substituted, but for the best texture and richness, use a high-quality, full-fat variety like Fage.
• Unsalted Butter: Adds richness, flavor, and contributes to the cake’s tender texture when creamed with sugar. Ensure it’s at room temperature for proper emulsification.
• Light Brown Sugar: Beyond sweetness, light brown sugar contributes moisture, which helps keep the cake soft and extends its freshness. It also imparts a lovely, subtle molasses flavor that pairs beautifully with the chocolate and Guinness. Dark brown sugar can be used for a deeper molasses note, or granulated sugar in a pinch, though it will result in a slightly less moist cake.
• Vanilla Extract: A flavor enhancer that brings warmth and depth to the chocolate.
• Eggs: Whole eggs play multiple roles: they add fat and moisture, contribute to leavening when beaten into the creamed butter and sugar, and act as an emulsifier, helping to bind the batter and create a smooth, tender texture. Ensure they are at room temperature.

For the Frosting: 

• Heavy Cream: I strongly recommend using full-fat (40%) heavy cream for this ganache-based frosting. Its higher fat content creates a richer, smoother frosting that is less prone to breaking or separating compared to lighter whipping creams.
• Light Corn Syrup: This ingredient is key for achieving a glossy, smooth ganache. It thickens the frosting without adding excessive sweetness (unlike granulated sugar) and prevents sugar crystallization, ensuring a silky texture. Honey can be used as a substitute, offering a slightly different flavor profile.
• Dark Chocolate: For the frosting, I prefer chocolate with at least 54% cocoa solids, up to 65%. This range provides a rich chocolate flavor that balances the sweetness of the other ingredients, preventing the frosting from being overly sugary. High-quality chocolate will make a noticeable difference.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds a layer of aromatic warmth to the chocolate caramel flavors.
• Kosher Salt: Essential for cutting through the sweetness and enhancing the caramel and chocolate notes in the frosting.
• Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder: Adds additional chocolate depth and intensity to the ganache, contributing to its fudge-like texture and deep color.
• Butter: Softened and cubed butter is added to the hot ganache to enrich the texture, make it more spreadable, and add a luxurious mouthfeel.
• Caramel Sauce: The star of the frosting! You can use my incredible homemade salted caramel sauce for unparalleled flavor, or opt for a good quality store-bought version for convenience. If you do make caramel from scratch, be warned – you’ll want to make extra! It’s fantastic in my salted caramel cupcakes, caramel pudding, caramel apple tart, or my addictive salted caramel butter bars.

See the recipe card below for full information on precise ingredients and quantities.

Possible Variations 

This Guinness chocolate cake is wonderfully versatile! Feel free to experiment with these variations to customize it to your taste or occasion:

• Experiment with Different Frostings. While the caramel fudge frosting is undeniably spectacular, this rich chocolate Guinness cake would also be delightful with other frosting choices. Consider pairing it with a silky caramel Swiss meringue buttercream for a lighter, less sweet option, a tangy cream cheese buttercream frosting for a classic pairing, or my intensely rich chocolate buttercream frosting recipe for a double chocolate delight. For an adult twist, the bourbon cream cheese frosting from my red velvet cake would be absolutely divine.
• Transform it into a Sheet Cake or Cupcakes. This recipe adapts beautifully to different forms. You can bake this cake in a 9×13-inch pan or a half-sheet tray for an easier-to-serve dessert. For easy removal, line the tray with crisscrossing parchment paper, leaving an overhang to lift it out. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Alternatively, you can make around 36 delicious cupcakes; fill liners a little over halfway for a flatter top and bake for 15-18 minutes.
• Add Creative Decorations. Elevate your cake’s visual appeal with fun decorations. For St. Patrick’s Day, consider green and gold sprinkles. For a sophisticated touch, add elegant chocolate shavings, chocolate curls, or a dusting of cocoa powder. You can also pipe the fudge frosting in decorative borders or rosettes using a piping bag and star tip. Edible gold dust or fresh berries also make beautiful garnishes.
• Introduce Flavorful Mix-ins. Before baking, fold in complementary mix-ins to the cake batter. Chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark), white chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips would add bursts of flavor and texture. For a fruity note that pairs wonderfully with stout and chocolate, try frozen cherries (pitted and chopped) or dried cranberries.
• Make it a Bundt Cake. If you prefer a simpler presentation, this batter works well in a well-greased and floured Bundt pan. Baking time will vary, typically longer than layer cakes, so monitor with a cake tester.

How to Make Guinness Chocolate Cake

Follow these detailed instructions to create a perfectly rich and indulgent Guinness chocolate cake from scratch. Further details and precise measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the Guinness chocolate cake:

Step 1: Begin by preheating your oven to 325°F (160°C). Prepare two 9-inch round cake pans by generously buttering or spraying the insides with nonstick cooking spray. For effortless removal, line the bottoms of each pan with a parchment paper circle.

Step 2: In a large heat-proof mixing bowl, combine the Dutch-processed cocoa powder, finely chopped bittersweet chocolate, and espresso powder. Set aside.

Step 3: Pour the Guinness beer into a small saucepan and bring it to just a bare simmer, where you see small bubbles forming around the edges but not a rolling boil.

Step 4: Immediately pour the hot Guinness over the chocolate mixture in the bowl. Let it sit undisturbed for about 1 minute. This allows the heat from the beer to begin melting the chocolate.

Step 5: After 1 minute, gently whisk the chocolate mixture until it is completely smooth, glossy, and fully emulsified. There should be no lumps of chocolate remaining. Set this rich chocolate mixture aside to cool down to room temperature. This is important to prevent it from scrambling the eggs later.

Step 6: While the chocolate mixture cools, combine the all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together thoroughly to ensure they are evenly distributed.

Step 7: Once the chocolate mixture has cooled to room temperature, whisk in the sour cream until fully incorporated and smooth. This adds moisture and helps activate the baking soda.

A quick note: You could try to speed up the cooling of the chocolate by adding cold sour cream, but for the best, most consistent emulsion, allowing the chocolate mixture to cool naturally is recommended. It’s your choice, but following the recipe as written yields optimal results.

Step 8: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room-temperature unsalted butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract together on medium speed. Cream them until the mixture is pale, light, and fluffy, typically 3-5 minutes. If your butter wasn’t perfectly room temperature, start by creaming it alone until light, then add sugar and vanilla.

Step 9: Reduce the mixer speed to low, then beat in the room-temperature eggs, one at a time. Mix each egg until just incorporated before adding the next. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition to ensure everything is evenly mixed.

Don’t be alarmed if the batter appears slightly separated or curdled at this stage; this is completely normal due to the ratio of eggs to butter and will resolve as you add the dry and wet mixtures.

Step 10: With the mixer speed set to low, begin adding the flour mixture and the cooled chocolate-Guinness mixture alternately to the wet ingredients. Add the flour in three additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until just combined. To prevent overmixing (which can lead to a tough cake and tunneling), finish folding in the remaining dry ingredients by hand using a spatula, ensuring no pockets of flour remain.

Step 11: Evenly divide the thick, rich cake batter between your two prepared cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or cake tester inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs still attached. Avoid overbaking, as this can lead to a dry cake.

Step 12: Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. This allows them to set before being handled. After 10 minutes, run a thin paring knife or a small offset spatula gently around the edges of each cake. Invert the cakes onto the wire rack to cool completely. They must be completely cool before frosting.

Prepare the caramel fudge frosting: 

Step 13: While the cake layers are cooling (this is key!), begin preparing the luxurious caramel fudge frosting.

Step 14: In a large, heat-proof bowl, add the finely chopped dark chocolate, vanilla extract, and kosher salt.

Important Note: Due to the significant amount of heavy cream used in this recipe, it’s crucial to chop your chocolate finely, even if you are using chocolate chips. Larger pieces of chocolate may not melt completely before the cream cools down, leading to a lumpy ganache. If this happens, you might need to gently microwave the mixture at 50% power in very short 10-second intervals, stirring in between, but this is not ideal for ganache and carries the risk of seizing or overheating the chocolate. Prevention is best!

Step 15: In a small saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream and light corn syrup (or honey) to a gentle boil over medium heat. As soon as it boils, remove it from the heat. Pour the hot cream mixture immediately over the chopped chocolate in the bowl. Gently shake the bowl to ensure the chocolate is submerged and covered by the hot cream. Allow it to sit undisturbed for 2 minutes to let the chocolate melt.

Step 16: After 2 minutes, starting from the center of the bowl, slowly begin to whisk the mixture. Gradually work your way outwards in concentric circles until a smooth, glossy, and fully emulsified ganache forms. Avoid aggressive whisking.

Step 17: Carefully sift the Dutch-processed cocoa powder directly into the ganache and gently whisk until it is fully incorporated and smooth. Sifting it at this stage helps prevent clumps. (While you *can* add cocoa powder before the cream, it often leads to stubborn clumps and the vigorous whisking required to smooth them out risks breaking the delicate emulsion.)

Step 18: Add the softened, cubed butter to the still-warm ganache. Switch to a silicone spatula and gently stir in one direction. Continue stirring until all the butter has completely melted and is fully incorporated into the ganache, resulting in an even more luxurious and silky texture.

Step 19: Stir in the salted caramel sauce. I used a full cup for rich caramel flavor, but you can adjust the amount to your preferred taste. Mix until fully combined.

Step 20: Cover the surface of the frosting directly with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and allow it to cool to room temperature. This can take anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on your room’s temperature. You can speed up the cooling process by placing it in the refrigerator and stirring it every 10-15 minutes until it reaches the desired consistency. At around 70°F (21°C), the fudge frosting will have a perfect, spreadable consistency that holds beautiful lines for decorating.

Assemble the cake: 

Step 21: Once both the cake layers and the caramel fudge frosting are completely cooled, it’s time to assemble your masterpiece. Place one layer of cake onto your favorite cake platter or cake stand. Spread about 1 cup of the cooled frosting evenly over the top of this layer.

Step 22: Carefully place the second cooled cake layer on top of the frosted first layer. Add another cup of frosting to the top of the second layer, spreading it out evenly. Allow a little frosting to extend slightly over the edges, creating a rustic drip effect if desired. Using an offset or straight metal cake spatula, apply a generous and smooth layer of frosting to the sides of the cake, working your way around until fully covered. Add any additional frosting to the top and swirl it decoratively with your spatula, or pipe elegant designs.

Step 23: For the very best flavor and texture, serve your magnificent Guinness chocolate cake at room temperature. If you need to store it, cover it loosely and refrigerate for up to 3 days. While it will still be delicious, the cake will gradually lose some moisture over time. For optimal freshness, I love to make it the day before or on the same day it will be served. For longer storage, you can bake the cake layers, cool them completely, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze them for up to 1 month before assembling. Always allow the frozen cake layers or the refrigerated assembled cake to come to room temperature before serving for the most tender and flavorful experience.

Before You Go

I sincerely hope you enjoyed creating and tasting this exquisite Guinness chocolate cake recipe. Its deep flavors and luxurious texture make it a memorable treat for any occasion. Don’t stop your baking journey here! Explore our other delicious, chef-developed cake recipes, like my perfectly moist yellow cake for a comforting classic, or dive deeper into the world of caramel with this incredible caramel brownie recipe. Happy baking!