Zoë Bowyer

I am still here, though distracted, and instead of write a proper entry (which I had planned to do but time ran away) I give you a recipe.

In reply to a comment I received:-

Chocolate Guinness Cake
From “Feast” by Nigella Lawson, published by Chatto & Windus

For the cake
250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
75g cocoa
400g caster sugar
142ml sour cream
2 eggs
1tbsp vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the topping
300g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g icing sugar
125ml double or whipping cream

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180˚C, butter and line a 23cm springform tin.

Start by pouring the Guinness into a large, wide saucepan and add the butter; heat until the butter’ melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then pour in the pan of brown, buttery, beer and finally whisk in the four and bicarb.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it’ quite a damp cake.

When the cake’ cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency.

Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.