This month marks the blogs first birthday – cue the music! The blog has come a long way since starting out as a little “not-really-sure-what-I’m-doing” hobby. Admittedly, I’m still not 100% sure what I’m doing, but I’m having a fun time figuring it out!
My readership has grown steadily – I’ve had over twice as many visitors in the past month as what I did in the first four months of having the blog, and I’ve had a great time connecting with you all and sharing my recipes and tips not just here but also on my Facebook and Instagram.
So I thought it would be fitting to make the cake of all cakes to celebrate. Chocolate Guinness cake has always been my go-to cake when it comes to special occasions, and I really wanted to recreate it here. I initially was thinking I would make some kind of raw cheesecake number to celebrate the blog’s first year, thinking it would fit in with the healthy eating theme of the blog, or I’d try and create something brand new – however despite the fact that I did manage to bake a chocolate cake with a quarter of a kilo (just over half a pound) of broccoli and cauliflower “hidden” within it, unsurprisingly it did not have that “wow” factor that I was after, so I thought it was best to stick with what I know.
This cake is rich, chocolatey and slightly fudgy whilst still retaining a cakey texture. Its really easy to make, and pretty hard to get wrong making it the perfect cake for novice bakers. I have “healthified” it here a bit so that it’s made of whole, unrefined ingredients, and I’ve halved the sugar content. This allows the deep chocolate flavour to really shine, without being overpowered by sweetness.
Despite the whole ingredients, this is still definitely a special occasion cake – it is quite rich and still contains quite a bit of sugar (albeit unrefined), not to mention being quite high in calories. But sometimes a little decadent indulgence is good for the soul, especially when it comes to chocolate birthday cake – and this one is definitely one to splurge on. I hope you like it as much as I do :)
- 200 ml Guinness or stout beer
- 150 grams unsalted, organic butter (or coconut oil)
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 50 grams cacao powder
- 100 grams coconut sugar
- 150ml coconut cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 75 grams | ½ Cup almond meal
- 100g | ⅔ Cup coconut flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Chocolate ganache
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp cacao
- 2 Tbsp coconut cream
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- Preheat the oven to 180°C } 350ºF, and butter and line a 23cm / 9 inch springform cake tin.
- Add maple syrup, cacao and butter to a saucepan over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until butter has melted and a paste has formed. Stir in the coconut sugar and then the Guinness and stir until the sugar is dissolves and the mixture is starting to bubble slightly. Remove from heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- Whisk eggs, coconut milk and vanilla together in a bowl and then whisk into to chocolate mix, making sure you keep beating until all mixed in and smooth so that the eggs don't set. Then whisk in the almond meal, coconut flour and baking powder.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.
- To make the ganache, add all ingredients to a saucepan and stir until smooth and combined. Allow to cool slightly before spreading over the cake.
Happy birthday! How amazing.
This cake looks like the perfect thing to make to celebrate it. It looks so delicious. Dense and rich chocolate cakes are the bests – without doubt!
Thank you lovely! x
happy bloggiversary to you! this cake looks lovely and i love that there’s guinness in it. as soon as i can figure out exactly what to celebrate, i think i might make one for myself, too. :)
Haha, you definitely should, its such a great cake! Thanks Jaime :)
Ah Happy Blog Birthday!
This cake looks amazing and super rich. My boyfriend would love it – he loves guinness, it is his go to drink…!
Thanks lovely! The Guinness definitely adds a special something to the cake, Im sure he would love it :)
Happy first to you and your blog, Dearna! This looks delicious, I love fudge cakes. Very nice work on upgrading it to a whole treat.
Wow this cake looks so decadent! And happy anniversary to your blog!! I can’t wait for the next special occasion so I can make this :)
Thanks Lilli x
Happy blog birthday beautiful!!! I’m so behind on reading your posts, not sure how that happened (as I thought I subscribed, maybe I need to do it again) but it’s wonderful to see that you feel a certainty behind what you’re doing!! Your recipes are gorgeous, as is your foodie philosophy. Here’s to many more months/years/decades of inspiration! xx
Thanks so much Laura x
Heaven, looks lovely. So going to try this….Thanks
Simon
Thank you Simon, hope you like it :)
This sounds and looks amazing. thanks for sharing this. will be giving this recipe a go. Simon