Healthy Guinness Chocolate Cake

Rich, dark and chocolaty, Guinness Chocolate Cake is beyond delicious. This dense, deep-flavored cake will definitely get you in the mood for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s totally HEALTHY, made without refined sugars, whole grain and loaded with SUPERFOODS. A luscious, scrumptious guilt-free cake that even non-Guinness lovers will adore.

With St. Patty coming this weekend, I’m all in planning the party menu. We celebrate St.Partic’s Day every year, although we don’t really have any Irish roots or anything. We just like celebrating. Or should I say, we like to make excuses to eat and drink MORE!

My popular healthy Irish Soda Bread Muffins are already on the menu, but this year I felt like the celebration deserves something new and different. Something loaded with chocolate, pleasing and indulging.

Yes, I’m still kinda obsessed with chocolate, but that’s not the only reason for making this chocolate cake. This year we actually have guests coming for dinner. So my decision to make famous Guinness Chocolate Cake was quite reasonable. It’s actually a classic Guinness cake with a HEALTHY twist. Sweet!

To make this chocolate cake beauty I used ALL HEALTHY ingredients. Beautiful grass-fed Irish butter that added something more than just luscious fattiness to this cake. It gave that great buttery aftertaste. Yum!

Also, I used organic free-range eggs, whole grain Spelt flour that is nutty and loaded with nutrients and of course raw cacao powder, a SUPERFOOD that gave this amazing rich chocolate taste. To make this Guinness cake even more interesting, and nutritious, I tossed in some cacao nibs. I used Yacon sweetened cacao nibs. It’s like a super-healthy version of dark chocolate chips which you can totally use here if you don’t have cacao nibs.

Of course, the star of this healthy delicious chocolate cake is Guinness – “the king” of all beers. To be completely honest, I’m not much fun of beers or alcohol in general – I rarely drink any at all, but when it comes to beer, my all-time favorite choice is always Guinness.

It has this distinctive rich flavor and incredible taste. Its heavy dark wheat taste, almost like roasted coffee is amazing. So tasty. And you might expect this beer to taste bitter, but actually, it’s very mild. The bitterness is perfectly camouflaged and completely drinkable. Guinness gave the cake a bit of that lovely subtile bitterness and a whole lot of flavor.

To sweeten this chocolate cake I used organic coconut sugar. It has this caramel-like taste and it’s mildly sweet. Coconut sugar balanced nicely a bitterness of Guinness and cacao enhancing both flavors beautifully.

I mixed in some Greek yogurt too. Greek yogurt contributed by giving the needed moisture, but also added important nutrients – proteins. This Guinness Chocolate Cake turned out to be a nutrient dense, guilt-free mouth-watering treat that even non-Guinness fans will adore.

How to make Guinness Chocolate Cake

The big secret in making this Guinness Chocolate Cake is mixing the ingredients with the right tools. Also, timing is everything here. This healthy chocolate cake is super easy to make, but it demands some patience and a bit of attention.

When making cakes like this one, I love to use WHISK and SPATULA. With these two simple tools, you ensure that batter is not beaten too hard, which leaves it airy and softer after baking.

Melting the butter and mixing it with Guinness is the first step. Heat from the butter will evaporate alcohol a bit, leaving pure Guinness taste behind for the cake. Make sure you mix sugar while the beer mixture is still hot, so sugar can dissolve properly. But when pouring beer mixture into egg mixture it’s very important to have beer mixture cooled to room temperature. That way you will avoid eggs to “cook” – no one want’s scrambled egg taste in the cake. Yuck! And that’s precisely what you’ll get if you pour HOT beer mixture into eggs.

The rest of mixing and baking is fairly simple and no-brainer really. Just check your chocolate beauty regularly while it’s in the oven. You don’t want to over-bake it. Once Guinness Chocolate Cake is baked and done, let it cool completely before slicing. And make sure you use a sharp knife to do it. Keep the cake stored in air-tight container up to a week. 

Can you freeze chocolate Guinness cake

You definitely can. Just put the cake into the zip-lock bag and place it in the freezer. It can hold up to 3 months in there. Before you plan to use it, get the cake out of the freezer and thaw on room temperature. Don’t defrost it in the microwave and don’t reheat the cake or it will become crumbly and dry.

This Guinness Chocolate Cake is one luscious, scrumptious chocolate cake. No doubt about it. Its rich and dark chocolate flavor is irresistible and magical. And Guinness in this cake really elevated the taste to a whole another level.

This healthy chocolate cake is beyond words delicious, super easy to make, and so guilt-free. Honestly, that’s my favorite part. I know I’ll be making this cake over and over again, for many other occasions, not just St.Patty’s Day.

Enjoy!

5 from 10 votes

Print

Healthy Guinness Chocolate Cake

This Healthy Guinness Chocolate Cake is beyond delicious. Rich, dense and chocolatey, loaded with distinctive Guinness flavor, it's the perfect cake for St. Patrick's Day. This cake is totally guilt-free, made without refined sugars, whole grain and loaded with SUPERFOODS.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, International, Irish

Keyword Guinness cake, Guinness Chocolate Cake, healthy chocolate Guinness cake, healthy Guinness cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12 slices

Calories 298 kcal

Author Natalie

Ingredients

• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 cup unsalted grass-fed butter
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour I used Spelt
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Yacon sweetened cacao nibs

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease loaf tin and line with a strip of baking paper on the bottom (this will make removing the loaf easier).

2. In a saucepan, mix the beer and butter and heat until melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar and cacoa powder until blended. Let it cool to room temperature.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla. Gradually and slowly whisk in the beer mixture.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix into dough mixture until smooth. Add cacao nibs, give it a few stirs with the spatula.
5. Pour the dough mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes before carefully lifting out. Cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

As a measure, I used UScup (240ml).
Make it VEGAN: Use coconut oil, flax egg, and dairy-free yogurt.
SUBSTITUTIONS: You can substitute Yacon sweetened cacao nibs with regular cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips. For a vegan version use vegan dark chocolate chips. TIPS: Don't use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and the mixture - use whisk and spatula.

Nutrition Facts

Healthy Guinness Chocolate Cake

Amount Per Serving (1 slice)

Calories 298 Calories from Fat 171

% Daily Value*

Fat 19g29%

Saturated Fat 11g69%

Cholesterol 68mg23%

Sodium 409mg18%

Potassium 128mg4%

Carbohydrates 27g9%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 510IU10%

Calcium 35mg4%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you’re into chocolate, check out these healthy desserts too:

• Double Chocolate Banana Cake
• Chocolate Maca Tahini Brownies
• Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies
• Fudgy Cacao Walnut Brownies