Chef notes

I love this recipe because it's a decadent, moist cake with booze! Who doesn't love that? It's really a showstopper at any function and it's guaranteed to disappear within minutes of serving.

Technique tip: I recommend making and serving this cake same day for it's super moist, but if time is an issue you can definitely bake the cake in advance, wrap very well and freeze a day or two ahead of time and frost it the day you serve.

Swap option: You can use any stout you like! I usually go for the faithful Irish Guinness.

Ingredients

Cake

1¼ cups (10 tablespoons) butter, plus extra for greasing
2/3 cup Irish stout
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1½ cups superfine sugar

3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons baking soda

Frosting

7 ounces good-quality white chocolate
1¼ cups (10 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1 cup cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a removable bottom and line with a disc of parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then whisk in the cocoa powder and Guinness. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda and sugar. Make a well with the back of a spoon and pour in the melted butter mixture along with the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.

Pour batter into the prepared cake tin and place in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted comes out completely clean. When the cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting.

For the frosting:

Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed on top of a saucepan filled with a little water boiling over a low heat. Remove from the heat to cool for about 10 minutes.

Place the butter and cream cheese in a bowl and beat until fluffy and combined. Mix through the melted white chocolate and then gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar until you have a smooth, spreadable mixture.

To assemble:

Place the cake on a cake stand and spread with frosting.