This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I am as keen as the next woman to reduce the size of my muffin top but, hey, some things just beg to be eaten and this calorific Guinness Chocolate Cake with whisky cream has to be in my top ten indulgent recipes. Am a huge fan of Black Forest Gateau (cherries, chocolate and cream just go so perfectly together) but this is one step further!
Guinness Chocolate Cake with Whisky Cream
Ingredients
250g softened unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
200g soft dark brown sugar
100g good-quality dark chocolate, melted
2 large free-range eggs
200ml Guinness
275g self-raising flour
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Selection of berries
For the chocolate ganache: 225g dark chocolate and 125ml double cream
For the whisky cream: 284ml carton double cream, 1 tbsp whisky and 1 tsp icing sugar
How to prepare
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease and line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
Beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy – this may take around 5 minutes or so. Gradually beat in the melted chocolate until smooth, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
Gradually whisk in the Guinness. You will have a smooth batter at this point. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then fold carefully into the chocolate mixture.
Pour into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a cake plate.
For the ganache, gently heat the cream in a saucepan, then add the chocolate (broken into pieces) into it and stir until melted.
For the whisky cream: pour the cream into a large bowl with the whisky and icing sugar. Whip until the cream just holds its shape. Cut the cake in half horizontally and fill with the whisky cream and a few berries. Pour the ganache on the top of the cake and decorate with the remainder of the berries.
The cake (without cream and fruit) will freeze for up to three months if wrapped in baking paper then cling film.
Adapted from recipes by Mary Berry, BBC Good Food and inspired by Little Box Brownie.