Chocolate Beer Bundt Cake

You absolutely must try this moist cake if you love deep, dark chocolate!

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❤️ Why you'll love it

• Stays moist for days at room temperature.
• Have I mentioned the dark chocolate flavor?
• Simple ingredients and simple instructions.

The dark beer gives this recipe a deep, roasty flavor and a dense velvety texture. If I had to describe it in one word that word would be, intense.

Your fork glides through the almost black chocolate dessert. Each bite fills your mouth with decadent cake and silky-smooth ganache.

In fact, this chocolate beer cake is so dense and chocolatey that it works best as a bundt cake.

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

For this chocolate beer cake recipe you'll need:

• butter
• sugar
• dark brown sugar
• eggs
• vanilla
• extra dark cocoa powder
• bittersweet chocolate chips
• all-purpose flour
• salt
• baking soda
• sour cream
• black lager or stout beer
• heavy cream

📖 Variations

• Any stout or dark beer will work in this recipe.
• You can use dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips if you prefer.
• Substitutes for the beer include: root beer, cola, Dr Pepper, apple cider, black coffee, ginger ale, or port wine.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Chocolate cake

1. Beat butter until fluffy - about 5 minutes.
2. Slowly add both sugars.
3. Beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs.
5. Add vanilla and chocolate.
6. Beat on low.
7. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
8. In a large bowl whisk the sour cream and the beer until smooth.
9. Add the dry ingredients mixture to the butter in three batches, alternating with the sour cream mixture.
10. Spoon cake batter into prepared pan.
11. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
12. Let cool 10 minutes in pan.
13. Loosen with knife and turn out from pan.
14. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Ganache

1. Heat the cream until bubbles form around the edges.
2. Stir in the chocolate until smooth
3. Pour warm beer it into the ganache.
4. Mix until smooth and then spoon over the top of the cake.

🥫 How to store leftover chocolate beer cake

Bundt cakes are moist and tend to last longer than other types. This decadent chocolate cake keeps well at room temperature. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and it will be fine for up to 5 days.

In fact, it will be better the second day.

For longer storage wrap well with plastic wrap then aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Guinness works well in this recipe but so do many others. Choose what you like best or have available to you.

• If you don't have, or can't find, extra dark cocoa powder you can use regular cocoa powder. I use Hershey's Special Dark but King Arthur has a dark cocoa as well.
• The can is done when a cake tester comes out clean or an instant-read thermometer reads 210F when inserted in the center of the cake.
• This cake does NOT taste like beer! It tastes like the best chocolate cake you ever ate.
• There is a scant amount of residual alcohol in it - most is baked out or cooked out in the ganache.
• IF you prefer not to use beer you can use a good ginger ale or root beer. OR, try this chocolate sheet cake.
• A light sprinkle of Fleur de Sel is an amazing garnish for this!

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

• No Knead Beer Bread Recipe is hearty and delicious. It's made with whole wheat so it holds up to soups and stews.
• Beer Pizza Dough Recipe is a little more work than the no knead pizza dough but it it SO worth the trouble! Chewy, perfect crust every time!

🍽️ Serve with...

Vanilla ice cream is a classic addition to the cake plate. If you want to do chocolate overload try this double chocolate chip ice cream.

📓 Meal plans in minutes

📞 The last word

Dark beers like stouts and black lagers have a bittersweet flavor that just goes really well with chocolate. It seems to coax even more yumminess out of that magical ingredient.

This is an easy chocolate bundt cake that you'll make again and again! I love it for football season and St. Patrick's Day, especially.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

4.63 from 8 votes

Chocolate Beer Cake

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Chocolate beer cake is one of the most memorable recipes you'll ever make! The sweetness of the chocolate and the slight bitter bite of the beer make for a blue ribbon worthy bundt cake that melts in your mouth.

Course Dessert - Cake

Cuisine American - Southern

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings:16 servings

Calories:487

Author:Marye Audet-White

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

• ▢
  Bundt Pan
• ▢
  Stand mixer

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup butter, room temperature
• ▢ 1  cup sugar
• ▢ 1 cup dark brown sugar
• ▢ 2  eggs
• ▢ 1  teaspoon  vanilla
• ▢ 4  ounces  bittersweet chocolate, melted
• ▢ 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1  cup  dark cocoa powder
• ▢ 1-¼  teaspoons  baking soda
• ▢ ½  teaspoon  salt
• ▢ ¾ cup  sour cream
• ▢ ¾  cup  black lager or stout

Ganache

• ▢ ½  cup  heavy cream
• ▢ 4  ounces  bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• ▢ 2  tablespoons  black lager or stout

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Butter and flour a bundt pan. If you use cocoa to flour the pan your cake will not have white streaks.
• Beat butter until fluffy - about 5 minutes.
• Slowly add both sugars.
• Beat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add vanilla and cooled chocolate.
• Beat on low until evenly mixed.
• In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
• In a large bowl whisk the sour cream and the beer until smooth.
• Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the sour cream mixture.
• Spoon into prepared bundt pan.
• Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool 10 to 15 minutes.
• Loosen with knife and turn out from pan, carefully.

Ganache

• Heat the cream up until bubbles form around the edges and the cream begins to steam.
• Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth
• Heat the beer in the microwave until it is just warm. Pour it into the ganache.
• Mix until smooth and then spoon over cake.

Notes

Expert Tip - Guinness works well in this recipe but so do many others. Choose what you like best or have available to you.

• If you don't have, or can't find, extra dark cocoa powder you can use the regular cocoa powder. I use Hershey's Special Dark.
• This cake does NOT taste like beer! It tastes like the best chocolate cake you ever ate.
• There is a scant amount of residual alcohol in it most is baked out or cooked out in the ganache.
• IF you prefer not to use beer you can use a good ginger ale or try this chocolate sheet cake.
• A light sprinkle of Fleur de Sel is an amazing garnish for this!

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 487kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 390mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 4.5mg

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Originally published May 2010. Last updated July 11, 2023 to improve instructions and user experience.