Guinness ginger cake: a recipe

Guinness ginger cake

Beer in cake -- how can you go wrong?

I have to admit that I do not like Guinness (now I will wait for the wailing and gnashing of teeth to stop) ... as a standalone drink, that is.

I appreciate a good beer but not ones that are dark and heavy, like a stout. Or yeasty and wheaty like a Hefeweizen. (Clearly I'm choosy about my beer.)

While not my favorite drinking beer, Guinness is lovely for cooking -- rich and dark, very flavorful. I mean, just take a look at that cake! (Or bread, if you plan to eat it for breakfast as we did.)

Cakes/breads like this one, though, are the reason why I end up with a couple of random cans of Guinness in my refrigerator at various times throughout the year. You'd think that would mean that I would always have one on hand for cooking, but mysteriously someone winds up drinking them every time, leaving me to go buy yet another 4-pack when I only need one cup of the stuff.

Although, if you are a Guinness fan, that leaves you with about half a can to enjoy while you bake!

But back to the cake.

This is pretty much revved up gingerbread and, as such, I think it would be lovely served with a dollop of whipped cream or with a wintery fruit compote (stay tuned, I've got one in the works for later this week). 

Guinness, molasses and ginger -- wintery goodness

Per the recipe, I baked mine in a loaf pan but you could also use a small Bundt or Kugelhopf pan for a very pretty cake presentation. 

The Guinness mixture fizzes up mightily when you add the baking soda

Bake in a Bundt or Kugelhupf pan for a cakier presentation

I came across this recipe via Sassy Radish, but she just duplicated the recipe verbatim from the Epicurious site, so I shall just link you over there, rather than rewrite it a third time. The original recipe is from Claudia Fleming's book The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern.

Slainte!

Pin It