A rich vegan chocolate cake with stout, iced with a Baileys-inspired dairy-free frosting
It's my Dad's birthday and this is his birthday cake! I've been planning it for a while and I'm so pleased with how delicious it turned out.
It's an intense chocolate-y and stout-y cake with an amazing "Baileys" buttercream frosting.
The frosting was inspired by my vegan Irish Cream Ice Cream which uses Irish whiskey, a little bit of cocoa powder and a little bit of coffee to recreate the flavour of Baileys.
You wouldn't know the difference! And the cake itself is slightly adapted from a recipe I found over at Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body.
At the time of creating this recipe, the only vegan Guinness option was Foreign Extra Guinness.
It's a lot stronger and more bitter but I think it works better in this cake as the flavour comes through a lot more.
However, I'm very very pleased to say that all forms of Guinness is now vegan-friendly.
More vegan Guinness and "Baileys" recipes:
Guinness Triple Chocolate Vegan Brownies
📖 Recipe
Vegan Guinness Chocolate Cake with "Baileys" Buttercream
A seriously indulgent vegan cake - Strong chocolate and stout flavour, with sweet Irish cream frosting. Great for birthdays or St Patrick's day celebrations.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Guinness cake
- 250 g / 2 cups plain flour
- 120 g / 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 220 g / 1 cup caster sugar
- 100 g / ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 480 ml / 2 cups Guinness
- 120 ml / ½ cup mild-flavoured vegetable oil
- 2 tsp white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the "Baileys" buttercream frosting
- 250 g / 1 cup vegan butter, such as Naturli block
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 600 g / 5 cups icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp Irish Whiskey, I used Jamesons
- ½ tsp cocoa powder
- ½ tsp very strongly brewed coffee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170c / 350f. Grease and line two 8 inch sandwich tins.
- In a bowl sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt and sugars. Make a well in the centre, pour in the beer, oil and vanilla. Whisk until there are no lumps.
- Pour into the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Once baked, let them cool for 15-20 minutes in their tins before transferring them onto a cooling rack.
- To make the buttercream, cream the vegan butter and vanilla extract together in a stand mixer. Add the icing sugar in a large tbsp at a time until well mixed.
- Beat in the whiskey, cocoa powder and brewed coffee. Taste and adjust quantities if needed until it tastes just like Baileys! Refrigerate for at least an hour before decorating, to make it easier to spread.
- Once the cake has completely cooled (I recommend freezing it or keeping in the fridge overnight before decorating) spread the chilled frosting on top of one layer, sandwich the two layers together and then top the cake with the rest of the frosting.
- Serve and enjoy! It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, covered.
Notes
The cake is adapted from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
Billie says
Hey, I noticed that the recipe calls for vinegar but it never includes it in the directions.
Marina says
The best vegan cake - made it for my son's birthday. The whole family said it was the best cake they have tasted in a while. Thank you for such a great recipe. Other parents are asking to share the recipe as all the kids keep talking about it x
Chris Granville-Edge says
Thanks for this recipe! I've just made it,with white spelt flour, for my daughter's birthday cake. It was absolutely delicious, as the dark fudge, slightly bitter cake, contrasts so well with the sweet Baileys style cream topping. The only thing we worried about was that the cake sank dramatically in the centre on cooling. Not sure why?
Joan A says
Thank you for sharing! This dessert is one of my most requested! And no one can tell it’s vegan…our friends and family with dairy allergies love it.
I don’t change the cake recipe, but I do add a bit more Jameson and coffee to the icing.