Name: Chocolate Stout Cake
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Yield: 16–20 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans; 2 cups stout (such as Guinness); 1½ cups Dutch-process cocoa powder; 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour; 4 cups (800 g) sugar; 1 Tbsp. baking soda; 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt; 4 large eggs; 1⅓ cups sour cream; 2 cups heavy cream; 16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

A slice of chocolate stout cake on a dessert plate with a fork.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart

Active Time
30 minutes
Total Time
3 hours 20 minutes

The secret to unbelievably moist, robustly flavored chocolate cake? It’s beer. This chocolate stout cake recipe abides by the principle that when making a chocolaty dessert, adding a complementary ingredient helps the chocolate shine. For example, adding espresso powder to brownies deepens their flavor without necessarily leaving a distinguishable trace of coffee. In this recipe for chocolate stout cake, the beer serves a similar purpose.

Stout, such as Guinness, adds intense moisture to the cake’s layers and offsets the dessert’s sweetness with a touch of bitterness. For the deepest chocolate flavor, use Dutch-process cocoa powder, which is less acidic than natural cocoa. The result is supremely rich but balanced cake, layered with a silky, fudgy chocolate ganache.

This exemplary Guinness chocolate cake recipe comes from Barrington Brewery in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where it’s been a mainstay for years. It yields three layers of cake—enough to make a towering layer cake or a two-layer cake plus a batch of cupcakes.

Ingredients

16–20 servings

Cake

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pans

2 cups stout (such as Guinness)

1½ cups Dutch-process cocoa powder

4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour

4 cups (800 g) sugar

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt

4 large eggs

1⅓ cups sour cream

Frosting and Assembly

2 cups heavy cream

16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preparation

Cake
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Coat three 8″-diameter cake pans with unsalted butter and line with parchment paper rounds; butter parchment. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups unsalted butter to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add 1½ cups Dutch-process cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Step 2
Meanwhile, whisk together 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, 4 cups (800 g) sugar, 1 Tbsp. baking soda, and 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat 4 large eggs and 1⅓ cups sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout mixture and beat until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and add dry ingredients. Beat on low speed until mostly combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold batter just until combined and no dry spots remain.
Step 3
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans; smooth surface. Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cakes cool 10 minutes. Run an offset spatula around sides of cakes to loosen, then invert cakes onto a wire rack; remove parchment. Turn cakes right side up and let cool completely.
Frosting and Assembly
Step 4
Bring 2 cups heavy cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add 16 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Chill frosting, stirring occasionally, until spreadable, about 2 hours.
Step 5
Place 1 cake layer on a cake platter or large plate. Scoop ⅔ cup frosting on top and spread evenly with offset spatula. Place a second cake layer on top; spread top with ⅔ cup frosting. Place third cake layer on top; frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.

Leave a Review

Reviews (487)

This cake is every bit of a 5 star. I made it exactly as written as I always do, but I use three 9" pans. The batter fills every bit of your Kitchen Aid mixer. I think the cake could use 1/2 cup more batter for coverage but it honestly does not need it for additional flavor....as is is enough. You will be a star wherever you serve this cake. I used regular Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, but I cannot imagine how awesome it would be with higher quality chocolate.
- Hoosiermom
- Indiana
- 3/18/2024
Calorie count? Afraid to ask!
- Liz B
- NYC
- 3/5/2024
Wish I could add at least 1/2 the next star! Only reason I didn't give all 5 was because mine wasn't underbaked enough for my liking BUT the flavor was sophisticated and tho the stout seemed hidden at first, it made a definite difference in the aftertaste of the chocolate essence! I used 1/2 the recipe to fill four 4 in spring form baby cakes as well as one 8 inch pan. I baked for 30 min which was fine, not underbaked as this should've been. Next time I'll check in at 20 min. Frosting was also EASY and divine and behaved beautifully!!!! I froze the 8 in for a later time completely frosted. It's beautiful!
- Cathy Fink
- Malibu, Ca
- 1/29/2024
This chocolate cake will make you famous. I have been making it at least ten years and have given up trying any other chocolate cake recipe. Everyone always says they prefer this one. It is great with or without frosting. Bake and serve it as written in a giant three layer ganache frosted cake for a special occasion, although be forewarned that it will probably not fit under any cake dome you own. Usually I frost and serve one or two layers and freeze the rest --this cake may be even better after being frozen. For more intimate occasions, make a half recipe and bake in 2 8 inch pans for about 30 minutes. This cake is most luscious when slightly underbaked, falling a bit in the center. In fact, that slightly fallen center is always the most luscious part of the cake. It is even better the second day after baking. I like the cake best made with a chocolate-flavored stout and a high fat Dutched cocoa. I also like to substitute safflower oil for half of the butter for even greater moistness without flavor loss. No one will guess that there is beer in the cake unless you tell them. The stout gives a mellow undertone to the chocolate.
- Suzanne i
- Hudson Valley, NY
- 9/10/2023
Agreed. This recipe yields a lot of cake. I cut the recipe in half and am baking it in a spring foam pan. We won't get the layers, but we prefer more cake to frosting ratio. Very excited. So far so good. Takes longer to bake this way. It was a lot of fun to prepare!
- Anonymous
- 2/7/2022
I’ve made this cake several times and it is always a hit. This time, I made a smaller cake and used the leftover batter for cupcakes. The tangy chocolate taste is phenomenal and the ganache is the perfect amount of sweetness to complement the cake.
- CC13
- Chester, VA
- 11/15/2021
Tastes good but this recipe make soooo much cake and is ridiculously fragile, two of my layers completely crumbled and the third stuck to the rack when cooling. The crumbled layers are still salvageable for a trifle I'm making so that's why I'm giving two stars instead of one. But be very wary if you decide to use this recipe.
- Poppyrot
- Seattle, WA
- 5/10/2021
This recipe makes a delicious cake AND it can be cut in half. I gambled on it because I had half a can of beautiful stout from yesterday.
- Secretlythecat
- Florida
- 12/12/2020
The cake is delicious. I considered cutting down on the sugar because it sounds like way too much, but decided against it and it came out just right. Not too sweet. I used two 9-inch cake pans and the full recipe fit just fine. I did not adjust the baking time, but probably should have. It could have used another few minutes, because it was so moist in the center. One layer came out of the pan fine and the other fell apart. Still 4 stars because I think another 2 or 3 minutes would take care of it
- Anonymous
- 11/26/2020
This cake is delicious, and is replacing the double chocolate layer cake recipe as my to-go chocolate. Moist and flavorful. As others have noted, it is huge, serves 24 rather than the 12 mentioned in the recipe. I baked it in four 8" pans and baked 2 at a time. The second 2 batter filled cake pans held in the fridge for 40 minutes and did not rise less than the first 2. My batter weighed 2830 grams, so about 700 grams per each of the 4 pans (allowing for batter clinging to bowl and mixer paddle). Otherwise I baked as directed. The stout added complexity rather making the cake taste like beer. Children liked it. It is a rather fragile cake and not a good candidate for sculpting or carving shapes.
- sf_baker
- San Francisco
- 1/9/2020
This is different from the KA recipe in that the sour cream is more and it calls for soda and the KA calls for powder. I think the soda will make the cake rise more? Create a less dense cake??? It could be something to bear in mind... especially if putting a fondant over it. I am making the powder version for a groom's cake. It has to be strong as I'm doing 4 9" layers and covering with ganache and fondant. Maybe some raspberry buttercream in between. I'm still working on between the layers...
- Anonymous
- Louisiana
- 10/22/2019
Question: is 4 cups of sugar the right amount for this recipe? It seems like far too much!
- clotherstuff
- 9/20/2019
This cake is excellent. I used Rogue Brewery's seasonal Chocolate Hazelnut Brown Nectar. The amount of batter was perfect for two 8-inch cake pans and one bundt pan. I didn't make the icing because we ate the cake warm topped with ice cream.
- brownieluv
- Portland, OR
- 3/18/2019
6 Forks!!!! Is it the best chocolate cake I've ever baked? YES. If you love chocolate cake that isn't too sweet but has an incredible chocolate flavor then this is your cake. Every time I find an amazing recipe I call it 'Restaurant Worthy' and this is one of them. I made three 8 inch layers and froze 2 of them. I cut the layer in half and layered it with a chocolate ganache recipe I had. I made this frosting but I thought if I added some of the beer to it I'd get a different flavor. What I got was a soupy frosting so I added confectioners sugar. The frosting complimented both the cake and the ganache filling. The cake was tall enough to make a worthy dessert without being so tall and overpowering as the pictured cake. The one layer was heavy enough, I can't imagine keeping all 3 layers together let along when they are cut in half, keeping all 6 layers in line. I decorated the top of my cake with a Bailey's meringue frosting. The reason I chose this cake is because of the butter and sour cream. The other recipe I had to choose from had oil and buttermilk. I would make this cake again and again!!!
- CODYLOVESTOYS
- Florida
- 12/9/2018
Excellent cake - moist, decadent but not cloyingly sweet. Beautiful in its tall simplicity. Easy to make. I was in charge of contributing the dessert for a Thanksgiving dinner. This is what I made and it was a huge hit.
- ckott
- Portland, OR
- 12/9/2018