Firefighter Approved Chocolate Guinness Cake

The way to a firefighter’s heart is cake, lots and lots of cake. It’s genuinely quite shocking just how much cake a hungry watch can demolish, but believe me if you can impress them with your baking then you’re on the way to winning them over. They’re a tough crowd though, so you need a decent recipe.

This cake was actually a request from one of Matthew’s colleagues who’d tried it at a party recently, and inspired me to come up with my own version. After a spot of research I quickly established it was a Nigella recipe, so I started with her basic version then put my own spin on it.

It’s a dense and rich sponge, the fluffy cream cheese frosting is spiked with Baileys and put together it resembles a creamy glass of guinness. Matthew adores guinness and is equally fond of chocolate cake, so for him this will definitely keep me in his good books for a while…

Firefighter Approved Chocolate Guinness Cake
(adapted from a Nigella recipe)

For the cake
250ml guinness
250g unsalted butter
75g cocoa powder
400g golden caster sugar
140ml Greek Yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2.5 tsp bicarb soda

For the frosting
200g cream cheese
80g butter
300g icing sugar
2-4 tbsp Baileys

To decorate
25g dark chocolate, chopped

Method

1. For the cake: Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and grease and line a 23cm springform tin

2. Heat the guinness in a pan and add the cubed butter over a gentle heat until melted and then stir in the cocoa powder and caster sugar – use a whisk to get it smooth.

3. Beat the greek yogurt with the eggs and vanilla and then add to the buttery beer mixture before stirring in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45mins-60mins then leave to cool completely in the tin on a rack.

5. For the frosting:  Beat the cream cheese and softened butter together then sieve in the icing sugar and beat until combined. Gradually add the Baileys a spoon at a time until you reach a soft and fluffy consistency.

6. To decorate scatter with chopped dark chocolate

Perfect for feeding a crowd of hungry firefighters or the ideal bake for Father’s Day.

Looking for a date in uniform?!

If you’re interested in pairing up with someone in uniform on a permanent basis – good luck! Just kidding… you can check out the new Uniform Dating.com recipe app Uniform Foodies launched today for some inspiration of what you might cook for them should you score a date.

In a survey carried out by the popular dating website, curries were found to be the top food choice for fire fighters and those in the armed forces, with fish and chips the top choice for police officers and doctors, with nurses preferring salads. However in my experience cake appeals to ALL if you’re out to impress.

I’ve joined a team of bloggers coming up with recipes to be uploaded to the new app created by Michelin star Chef Michael Caines in association with Uniformdating.com. This cake is my entry, but you can take part too! If you’re up for it you can upload your own recipes to share with everyone. What would you like to cook up for someone in uniform?

Check out @UniformFoodies on twitter for more info

Disclosure: I was given a voucher to cover the costs of the ingredients and to promote Uniform Dating’s new recipe app… All views are my own, as is the firefighter who tested this recipe 😉