Happy Birthday 'We Should Cocoa' (Chocolate Guinness Cake) - recipe

This post is really to say happy first birthday to both Chele and Choclette on the occasion of their 'we should cocoa challenge' first anniversary...so much chocolate loveliness and jaw dropping wow in so many of those challenge inspired posts. A relatively new discovery for me but I really enjoy reading it every month.

Here's to the next year and to your continued baking success! I love challenges like this because it makes you think about what you are baking and gets food lovers to come up with new ideas, which in turn gives others (like me!) ideas for their baking.

     Happy Birthday and Cheers!

This is not an entry for the challenge, but our current family favourite cake is...Chocolate Guinness...named so because it contains both elements (no brainer, I know!). But the cake is sort of made to look like a pint of Guinness with a nice smooth creamy alabaster like head on it, this comes from a topping of cream cheese, cream and icing sugar added for sweetness, if you are true to the recipe. OR make a smooth vanilla butter cream and let your hand slip and heavily gently dust with cocoa like I did here.
It is a gorgeous rich heavenly cake...and its another one of Nigella's recipes (there are other recipes for this cake if you try Google and I have tried some of them but Nigella's is the best by far).

This cake has a lovely moist texture and an earthy flavour from the Guinness like no other cake you will try. It keeps really well in an airtight container. Its quite nice without a topping to. Just don't forget to line your tin and don't be too heavy handed with the slight dusting of cocoa on top OR YOU WILL RUIN THE LOOK.