Reviewed: Mar. 18, 2013

I made this recipe exactly as directed and I found this cake dense, with the Guinness giving it a funky flavor. The frosting was flat. It definitely needed salt. I won't ever make this again. I really wanted to love this recipe.

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Reviewer:

12116

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Mar. 16, 2013

Pretty good. I had hoped for a bit more stout flavor, but it's a pretty good end result. I used buttermilk in place of creme fraiche (didn't have any), and I subbed Whey Low for the sugar. A couple of reviewers mentioned the cake was dense, so I added a teaspoon of baking powder to the batter. That did the trick. The cake was light and fluffy. I cut the recipe in half, and it made 12 cupcakes. The icing is just a little too sweet for me. I added a tablespoon of espresso powder, and that helped. The family loved them, so it's a success.

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Reviewer:

wisweetp

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Smithville, Mississippi, USA

Living In: Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 12, 2013

I seriously questioned the unusual execution of this recipe but I followed through and was rewarded with a rich and buttery, light chocolate cake. I was so hesitant to make the beer infused frosting that I played it safe and didn't. (Besides, I wanted a white frosting to show off the green and gold Packer colors for our big playoff game tonight!) But I will be the first to admit that this is so light chocolate that it would have been better with a rich chocolate frosting, even if the one included in this recipe isn't used. Recipe notes: I did use Guiness, ordinary table sugar rather than superfine, which really isn't necessary, and sour cream rather than the pricier creme fraiche.

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Reviewer:

naples34102

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Mequon, Wisconsin, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 17, 2012

When I beat the flour mixture together, it immediately clumped up like bread dough. Putting the rest of the wet ingredients in that point didnt help. I've made very few cakes from scratch, but it sure seemed like something was off here.

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Reviewer:

UcityChristy

Reviewed: Mar. 24, 2012

This was the ugliest cake I've ever made--it fell apart when I took it out of the pans and crumbled like crazy! I used a lot of icing as glue to piece it together; it really looked a mess. The TASTE, however, is quite another matter. It was delicious! I LOVED the icing (best chocolate icing EVER and I will use it ever after) and the cake is really rich and chocolatey. I would try it again and hope for better results next time as far as the appearance, but my family has really enjoyed eating it!

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Reviewer:

MMMICHELLE

Reviewed: Mar. 19, 2012

The cake was very tasty, although very dense. The following day it had the consistency of very dense brownies rather than cake. But it was very yummy!

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Jenny

Reviewed: Mar. 18, 2012

My cake came out a little crumbly but those crumbs are so moist and delicious. I tried cutting the amount of butter and used a chocolate stout so maybe the decreased fat made my cake fall apart. But it's so good me & the family don' even care. I didn't even frost this cake it's so good on its own.

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Reviewer:

PITTIPAT

Reviewed: Mar. 18, 2012

super yummy - it does have a little banana taste :-) don't know where that comes from.

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Reviewer:

barbara

Reviewed: Mar. 17, 2012

I used this frosting with a different cake because I didn't have creme fraiche or superfine sugar. best frosting I have ever made!

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Reviewer:

Kit

Reviewed: Mar. 16, 2012

Not too rich, very tasty. My friends and I all tasted banana for some reason? Maybe its in the Guinness. I ended up with probably twice as much icing as I could fit on the cake, I will cut the icing recipe in half next time.

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5 users found this review helpful