Earlier this year it was announced that all Guinness - draft, can and bottle - is now vegan, so here's a chocolate Guinness cake to celebrate.
Ingredients
for the sponge:
300g self raising flour
75g cocoa powder
150g dark brown sugar
150g caster sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
large pinch of salt
200ml Guinness
200ml soya milk
140ml vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp cider or white wine vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
for the frosting:
40g dairy free margarine
40g Trex shortening
2 tbps hot water
80g dairy-free “cream cheese”
550g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and line three 6 inch tins.
Sieve the flour and cocoa into a bowl and add all the other dry ingredients.
In another bowl add all the wet ingredients, then pour these into the dry ingredients and mix as quickly as possible. Pour the batter into the prepared tins.
Bake for 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre; allow to cool in the tins then transfer the sponges to a wire rack. Allow these to rest for a few hours.
Assembling the cake
Beat the margarine and shortening with the hot water and vanilla extract for 30 seconds, then add the “cream cheese” and beat for a minute. Add the icing sugar gradually and continue to beat. It should be a firm but spreadable consistency. If it is too dry, add a little more water and if it is too wet add more icing sugar. Take care not to overbeat the frosting.
To assemble the cake, cut the domed top off the sponges so each one is flat and level. Place a 1cm plain round nozzle in a piping bag and fill with the frosting. Pipe balls of frosting on the first layer of sponge, place the second layer on top and repeat.
Place the third and final sponge bottom up (i.e. so the cut side is facing down into the second layer of frosting and you have a smooth baked top) and use up the rest of the frosting to decorate the top of the cake.