Vegan Chocolate Guinness Cake topped with tangy, sweet vegan cream cheese frosting. It's perfectly moist, rich, and dark, with malty, deep, complex richness. Perfect for St Patrick's Day or Father's Day!
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Hello. Hi. Grab your baking essentials and a can of Guinness because we are making a Vegan Chocolate Guinness Cake! Maybe you didn't know that you needed Guinness in a cake, but I'm here to tell you that you do.
We're talking depth and richness like you wouldn't believe! Inspired by Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake, this vegan cake is deeply dark, perfectly moist, soft, and sweet, but not too sweet.
Guinness, like coffee, intensifies chocolate's natural flavour. The stout flavour isn't obvious but it adds malty, deep, complex richness. It also introduces a little bitterness which cuts through the chocolate cake sweetness, balancing things out perfectly.
Mel x
Ingredient Notes
Here are the ingredients you need at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes & substitution ideas. Grab your baking essentials, and let's go!
- Guinness - Or any other vegan, very dark stout. Sorry if you're alcohol-free, but there are no substitutions for the Guinness beer/stout in this recipe. Its carbonation and acidity is needed for the recipe to work correctly.
- Cocoa powder - It is really important that this is unsweetened natural cocoa powder NOT Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Hershey's Cocoa Powder and Everland Cocoa Powder are common brands that are natural. Like the Guinness, the acidity of the natural cocoa powder is needed for this recipe to work correctly.
- Flour - This should be all purpose flour, or plain flour if you are in the UK.
- Baking powder & baking soda - The combination of these is important in this recipe. Don't use one and not the other.
OPTIONAL - I also love to have a bar of dark chocolate on hand so I can decorate my Guinness Chocolate Cake with chocolate curls.
And for the Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Vegan butter - I always test my recipe with Earth Balance (the one in the tub). Any hard-style vegan butter should work well, though. Don't use the really soft margarine-style vegan spreads though (unless you're happy with sloppy frosting or want to add loads more powdered sugar to firm it up more).
- Dairy-free cream cheese - I've tried many vegan cream cheese brands when making frosting, and Tofutti creates a WAY better-textured frosting than any other. As much as I love Violife for eating, I do not recommend using it when making frosting. It gives terrible results and makes the frosting grainy, very loose/sloppy and unpleasant.
- Powdered/icing sugar - A lot of powdered sugar is necessary to create a stable frosting with a good, thick texture. My favourite brand of vegan powdered sugar is Wholesome Sweeteners.
- Arrowroot or cornstarch - Unlike non-vegan cream cheese and butter, vegan versions contain a lot of water. Arrowroot or cornstarch helps to absorb some of the moisture and firm the frosting, giving it a texture more like frosting made with non-vegan cream cheese and butter.
I used my vegan cream cheese frosting recipe. If you want to make things extra easy though, Pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting is accidentally vegan. You could also just make a simple glaze with powdered sugar and the little bit of Guinness that will be left in the can after making the cake.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Guinness Cake
Can't wait to make it? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen:
Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix together.
Add all of the wet ingredients to another bowl and stir them together.
Combine the two to form a rich, chocolaty batter.
Spoon into the cake tin and bake.
Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack. Keeping it in the pan traps moisture, making the cake extra moist.
Whip up the cream cheese frosting and slather it all over the cake.
Decorating Tip
If you want to decorate with chocolate curls as I did, get a large bar of dairy-free dark chocolate. Make sure it's at room temperature, then use a vegetable peeler to shave curls of chocolate onto a cold plate. Pop the plate in the freezer to firm them up before scattering them over the top of the cake.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, Guinness has been 100% vegan since 2018. You can see it confirmed on their website in the FAQs here.
You can use any other dark stout, but there is no other alternative. The stout's carbonation, richness, and acidity are essential for the recipe to work properly.
This is a beautifully moist cake, so it's great for making ahead. I recommend baking it and letting it cool in the pan as per the instructions. Then wrap it up well while still in the pan. It will be fine for a couple of days stored at room temperature. Or wrap very well and freeze for up to 3 months. The cream cheese frosting can also be made up to a week ahead. Cover it tightly and store in the fridge. Give it a quick whip-up before using it.
Yes. Double the cake recipe to make 2 x 9-inch sponge cakes. You will need to double the frosting as well if you want to frost the top and sides.
All organic sugar is vegan, and pretty much all sugar, organic or not, is vegan in Canada. I have personally contacted the 2 major Canadian sugar producers, Redpath and Rogers, and they have confirmed that bone char is not used in any of their facilities. Sugar in the UK and Europe is also vegan. The USA is the only place where sugar is not always vegan. However, in the USA it is still easy to find sugar that is vegan. All organic sugar is, as well as popular brands such as Wholesome Sweeteners, Florida Crystals, Billingtons, Now Foods, Sugar In The Raw, Kirkland Organic Sugar, Trader Joe's Organic Sugar, Rapunzel, Imperial, and Diamond Crystal.
Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Guinness Cake
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1¾ cup (218 grams) all purpose flour , (plain flour in the UK)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (100 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder , MUST be natural & NOT Dutch processed cocoa
- 1¼ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarb in the UK)
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1⅓ cup (267 grams) white or cane sugar
- 1¼ cup (300 ml) Guinness , or other very dark stout.
- ¾ cup (180 ml) liquid oil , such as canola, vegetable or sunflower
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the frosting
- ½ cup (4 oz/114 grams) vegan cream cheese , I like Tofutti for frosting. This uses ½ a container. DO NOT use Violife (see info in post for details).
- ¼ cup (55 grams) vegan butter , a hard variety like Earth Balance
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 2½ cups (250-312 grams) powdered sugar (icing sugar in the UK)
OPTIONAL
- 1 bar dark chocolate , to make the chocolate curls garnish
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
For the cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Prepare a 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep (or a 9-inch springform pan or a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan). Grease the bottom and sides well, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment paper too. If using a loaf pan use a long rectangular strip to cover the bottom.
- To a mixing bowl add the flour, sift in the cocoa, then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk them together to combine.
- Measure the Guinness in a clear measuring jug like a Pyrex so that you can see where the stout ends and the foam begins. Don't scrape the foam off, it gets used, but it should not be part of the 1¼ cup (300 ml) measurement. Let it settle for a minute after pouring so you can see where the brown Guinness line comes up to on the measure.
- To the Guinness add the oil and vanilla. Give it a quick mix together.
- Make sure your cake pan is ready and the oven is at temperature before combining the wet and dry ingredients because once you do you need to work quickly. Pour the wet into the dry and fold (don't beat) them gently but quickly together. Be sure to scrape right into the bottom of the bowl. A few small lumps are ok.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap once or twice on the counter to level it and knock out any air bubbles, then bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. All ovens and bakeware vary so keep an eye on it towards the end.
- Transfer to a cooling rack but leave the cake in the pan. This traps the steam, making the cake moister. Let it cool completely.
For the frosting
- Add the vegan butter to a large bowl and beat it with an electric mixer on a medium high speed until soft and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and beat again until just combined and smooth. Don't over-beat.
- Now add the arrowroot powder, salt, vanilla and the powdered sugar. Beat on the lowest speed until the powdered sugar has stopped flying around and mostly combined, then turn the speed up to medium high and beat until smooth and creamy, scraping down the edges with a spatula as needed to get any dry powdered sugar off the sides and into the mix.
Assemble
- Carefully remove the cake from the pan and place on a cake stand or plate.
- Swoosh the cream cheese frosting all over the top with a spatula.
- If making chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler to shave the sides of a bar of dark chocolate onto a cold plate. Once you have enough pop the plate in the freezer for a couple of minutes so the curls harden. Then scatter them over the frosting.
NOTES
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Patricia Giannelia says
This cake is amazing. I made it with a zero alcoholespresso, stout, and replaced the oil with mashed banana, and it still came up, fluffy and rich and moist, and stayed moist for days. This will probably become my go to for chocolate cake moving forward.
Melanie McDonald says
Oh that's good to hear Patricia! I bet the banana flavour works really well with the stout and chocolate.
Marie says
Where I live there is no natural cocoa powder. The misery. Understand that is the "sour" ingredient meant to react with the baking soda. You know what? I'll add something acidic and bake this anyway. I will not come back and give a bad review since I changed the recipe, but I will leave a report. (Just need some time to gather ingredients and make some of the ingredients. No such thing as vegan butter or cream cheese in our stores.)
Kirsten says
Looks amazing, as usual! I think I will try this as mini cupcakes. Any advice besides watching closely and baking for shorter time? I have a silicone mini muffin tin.
Melanie McDonald says
I've only ever made this as a cake so have no idea of timings, but in a mini pan they wont take long at all. Be sure not to over-bake. You want a nice moist crumb. Good luck!
Jackie Hughes says
Going to give this a try but could the cake be made ahead of time and frozen before adding the frosting ? Plus I’m in UK think I will struggle to find Tofutti cream cheese :(
Melanie McDonald says
You don't have to use Tofutti. That's just my preference. Use any UK cream cheese that works well in frosting. Make ahead details are included in the FAQs.
Enjoy!
Bobbie says
This looks so good and I would love to try it but I cringe at the amount of oil in the cake. Do you thing applesauce or aquafaba would work, even 1/2 and 1/2. I know the texture, and taste, would change but I am trying to cut back on oils even though I do make exceptions for baked goods. Thanks.
Melanie McDonald says
In testing I tried various amounts of oil, and for the very best results the amount in the final recipe was necessary. Fat is really important for a nice, soft, crumb. Cashew butter (blended into the milk) would likely work much better than applesauce or aquafaba in an oil-free version because it would provide the necessary fat. You would need to add a touch more milk though.
Kath says
Fab cake!
Debbie says
Delicious cake! I baked for 42min and mine crumbled after cooling in the pan. I will bake for 35 min n xt time and check. Chocolate is difficukr to bake sometimes. I had way too much frosting leftover. Can it be frozen for later use?
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried freezing the frosting. I've kept it for weeks in the fridge though (it will be fine for as as long as your cream cheese and butter is good for). It firms up a lot but gets fluffy again after a quick whip up.
Kimberly Lag says
I weighed the ingredients on a digital scale, and this turned out very crumbly for me. I don't have a 9" pan so used a 10" cake pan-I guess that could've been the problem? I checked the cake at 30 mins (wet in the center) and took it out after 35 mins (clean skewer).
My star rating is for the overall flavor, which was good. I think I was expecting more of the Guinness flavor to come through.
It was a fun cake to try. Thanks, Mel.
Melanie McDonald says
When increasing cake pan sizes you need to increase the amount of batter. A 10 inch pan holds 10 to 11 cups of batter. A 9 inch only 8 cups. That means your cake would have been a lot thinner than intended which will have affected the texture/moistness and probably the flavour of the cake greatly. The shallower the cake the quicker the centre dries out so a thinner cake would need to be baked at a higher temperature for less time.
If using a 10 inch cake pan for a 9 inch recipe again I recommend increasing the recipe/batter by 25% so it's an adequate depth/thickness, especially for a cake like this that really needs to be kept moist.
Madalina says
Sponge turned out great but the frosting turned to soup so I ended up trashing the whole thing. Violife is the only firm cream cheese we get in europe (cause we prefer saucy ones) so I dared to try it even if it would turn out grainy. I'm really sad I didn't just do a different frosting entirely.
Melanie McDonald says
I'm sad to hear it didn't work out well for you but that's why I stress clearly not to use Violife cream cheese for the frosting. It really does not work well in frosting and I made sure to mention it as I don't want anyone to have a bad result and waste ingredients.
If you can't get a cream cheese that works well in frosting then I"d recommend making a regular vegan buttercream for this recipe instead of cream cheese frosting.
Sherilyn says
So so good. It turned out perfectly! Very easy to make and so moist. I used corn starch instead of arrowroot and it worked out great.The only thing I would do differently next time is half the icing recipe as I found it a bit too much for my taste, but the perfect amount for a big icing fan!
Nancy Cordaro says
Hi Mel!
Do you think the Guinness NA version would work with this?
Melanie McDonald says
I have never tried it so can't say for sure. As long as it has roughly the same acidity and carbonation it should technically work fine. I doubt if it has quite the same depth of flavour though. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Lisa says
Can we use your homemade cream cheese instead of Tofutti?
Melanie McDonald says
No sorry. That recipe has savoury flavourings that won't work in a sweet recipe.