If you love chocolate, this cake will be a life-changing experience. It's so easy and so chocolatey!
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- Moist, fudgy dark chocolate cake that's even better the next day!
- Perfect for potlucks, parties, or family dinners.
- Dusting the pan with cocoa powder keeps the baked cake pretty.
Extra stout, double dark ales, and other really dark beers often have a chocolaty note that just works beautifully with chocolate.
The Guinness fudge bundt cake is deep, rich, dark chocolate, and the beer adds almost a coffee flavor to it. It keeps the cake moist, for sure. The ganache also has beer added to it. The richness of this cake is hard to describe - even for me and I love adjectives.
This is one of my favorite cakes, y'all. It's so moist and chocolatey, plus it's absolutely a dream to put together. The ganache glaze is always shiny and delicious.
It's a showstopper that's as perfect for a fancy dinner as it is for family movie night.
I think it is perfect for Valentine's Day, birthdays, or as a small snack when you have had a particularly difficult day - yes, I do mean the entire thing. If you have a PMS playlist, add this to the required food accompaniment.
🧾 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.
📖 Variations
- Use any dark beer you like.
- Stir 1 cup chocolate chips into the cake batter before baking.
- Add 1 cup chopped pecans.
🍴 Equipment
- bundt pan
- electric mixer or stand mixer
🎥 Video
🥫 How to store leftover Guinness fudge bundt cake
This chocolate bundt cake is delicious on the first day but it's so much better the next day! Once the ganache has a change to set it will be solid and won't stick to plastic wrap. Just cover it in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for up to 5 days.
You can freeze it for up to 3 months.
Expert tip:
Spray the cake pan with no-stick spray and dust with cocoa powder to keep chocolate cakes dark and chocolatey.
💭 Things to know
- 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
Try root beer as a substitute for beer in this recipe! The rich flavors of the soda combine with the chocolate really well. Other possibilities include: cola, Dr Pepper, apple cider, black coffee, gingerale, or port wine.
Yes. Stout is the type of beer and Guinness is a well-known brand.
The carbonation gives it an extra boost and the flavors deepen the flavor of chocolate.
Stout is darker and has coffee and chocolate flavors. The lager had a malty flavor with caramel flavors and a little bitter aftertaste that keeps this cake from being too sweet.
📚 Related recipes
📞 The last word
Resistance is futile. Look at this Guinness chocolate bundt cake. Shiny, rich chocolate, slowly caressing the moist surface of the most intense cake you have ever put in your mouth. It's sensual. It's sexy.
It's OMG. And you want it. Bad.
And so you shall have it. This is an easy, mistake-proof bundt cake. You really can't screw it up unless you forget about it in the oven or something like that. If you do, don't feel bad. I have been known to do that myself.
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 comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Guinness Fudge Bundt Cake
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dark cocoa powder, I use Hershey's Extra Dark
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup Guinness Extra Stout or a double dark ale
Guinness Ganache
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Guinness Extra Stout
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 and slowly add sugar.
- 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 until evenly mixed.
- In a large bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a 3 cup measuring cup or large bowl mix the buttermilk and the Guinness.
- Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk mixture.
- Spoon into a 3 quart bundt pan. Drop on the counter a couple of times to get rid of bubbles and make sure the batter gets into all the crevices of the bundt pan.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. An instant read thermometer will read 200℉ when stuck halfway between the center and the exterior of the pan.
- Let cool completely.
- 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 Guinness in the microwave until it is just warm. Pour it into the ganache.
- Mix until smooth and then spoon over cake.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
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.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published February 4, 2013. Last updated March 15, 2024 for editorial improvements, better images, and video.
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✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
I have been known to be absent minded. In fact... I have been known to forget cakes in the oven.
More than once.
In fact it's getting worse. I really have been losing my reading glasses lately - on top of my head. I was rushing to fix supper last night and rushing around looking for them because I couldn't read the recipe in one of my old cookbooks. Here I was frantically searching counters and shelves when I heard a delicate cough - a clearing of the throat, if you will.
My husband was sitting at the table, looking at me with an expression somewhere between pity and hysterical laughter. He pointed to the top of his head...and I suddenly felt them up there on my head. Yes, I walk away from the kitchen and totally forget about the stuff in the oven. It's ok.
But try not to with this because scorching a cake this magnificent would be a travesty of the worst type.
Sherri Rochester says
#ohmyyum !
This cake sounds amazing! I love a good chocolate cake. This cake sounds like it has more body to it thana regular sponge cake. I am excited to make it.
Maybe the second time I make it, I will add a bit of cinnamon to it like a Mexican chocolate. Listen to me 'pre-planning' a recipe!!!
Jane Huber says
I'm going to try this recipe! I really don't care for the taste of Guinness or stout ale, do you have any suggestions for a substitute?
I ❤️ Restless Chipotle!
Lynda B says
Chocolate. Chocolate. And more chocolate! How could anything be better? Dusting the cake pan with cocoa powder is an amazing idea! I'll definitely have to try that!