A soft and fluffy sponge cake loaded with Guinness and chunks of dark chocolate topped with a creamy, smooth, silky mascarpone cheese frosting
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4
First make the cake: using a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter in a microwave. Leave to cool a little whilst you collect all the remaining ingredients together.
Add the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, coffee and salt. Then add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda directly on top of the flour.
Add the remaining ingredients: both sugars, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, Guinness and yoghurt
Beat with a balloon or electric whisk until incorporated – be careful not to over-mix. It should take 30 seconds to a minute and you may need to stop half way to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
Chop the chocolate into pieces and fold into the cake batter.
The batter is quite liquidy. Pour it into the greased cake tin.
Cook in a preheated oven for 50 – 60 minutes or until cooked. It is cooked when:
- the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
- a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- when the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin.
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
How to make the mascarpone icing: put the butter into the bowl of your electric whisk and beat until light and fluffy.
Add half the icing sugar and fold in.
Beat in the vanilla extract and finally beat in the mascarpone cheese.
Taste and add more vanilla, if necessary.
Top the cake with the icing: when the cake is cold, top with this delicious frosting.
Equipment:
Icing sugar:
Fold the icing sugar in with a spoon before whisking – this will help to stop the icing sugar clouding up and making a mess of your kitchen!