Beer Mug Cake for Father’s Day

What say’s Happy Father’s Day better than beer, this cake is not only perfect for dear ole dad but is complimentary for any summertime cookout or pool party.   

To make this cake even better, I couldn’t resist putting beer in both the buttercream and cake. To be honest, Guinness is not my beer of choice, but it’s great for baking.

The dark Irish stout has a great tangy flavor that pairs well with most coffee and chocolate-flavored desserts. Plus, when you come from a Caribbean household, Guinness is never far from reach.

When growing up it was easily found in my parent’s fridge as Guinness Stout Punch is a notorious drink known to give you lots of energy.    

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Guinness Chocolate Cake  

This is a moist decadent cake spiked with Guinness stout, the layers are filled with a Guinness Buttercream frosting. 

For this cake, I altered the Hersey Perfectly chocolate cake recipe in my cake pop tutorial, naturally I had to make a few adjustments very minor as the carbonation in the beer acts as a leavening agent.

The best thing about this recipe is you can taste the Guinness flavor in the chocolate cake if only the internet had smell-o-vision as my kitchen smelled amazing as this cake was baking. It’s always a plus when you can actually taste the booze in the cake.  

I decided to create a Guinness Stout Reduction to use in both the cake and buttercream recipe. This reduction used two bottles of Guinness as I wanted a little extra, so I can base the top of each cake before frosting.   

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Guinness Stout Reduction  

In a medium-size saucepan, simmer the remain Guinness pint on low heat with 1 cup of granulated sugar for 30 min.

Be sure to continuously stir the stout until it becomes reduced it will look slightly thicker like syrup and darker in color.  

Helpful tip, be sure to keep your eyes on the stout, so it does not overcook. 

You will notice it will start to foam up, be sure to keep stirring and scraping down the sides and bottom so nothing sticks, let it cool. Overall this process should take about 30-45 minutes and should be done in advance or overnight.    

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Guinness Chocolate Cake  

Ingredients  

• 2 cups of sugar  
• 1^3/4 cups all-purpose flour  
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa  
• 1^1/2 teaspoons baking powder  
• 1^1/2 teaspoons baking soda  
• 1 teaspoon salt  
• 2 eggs  
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract  
• 1^1/4 cup Guinness Extra Stout  

(recipe follows) 

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DIRECTION 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour baking pans. 

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. 

Instead of water as the original recipe requires, you are going to replace it with Guinness Extra Stout. Heat the Guinness till it’s close to boiling and Stir in the Guinness into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pans. 

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.  

Using Wilton Easy bake spray round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. 

If you are not a frosting person. This cake honestly doesn’t need frosting as its fluffy and moist and can be eaten by itself but because we are creating a beer mug design we must add frosting and what better frosting to add then a buttercream infused with Guinness.        

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Guinness Buttercream Frosting 

Ingredients  

• 2 Cup(s) Unsalted Butter (room temperature) 
• 4 Cup(s) Sifted Powder Sugar 
• 1/2 Cup Milk 
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract 
• 2 Tablespoon(s) of Guinness Extra Stout Reduction  
•  In a standalone mixer, cream your butter for 5-10 minutes 
• Slowly, add the powder sugar, alternating with a little milk each time till the mixture is creamy. 
• Add vanilla extract. Slowly add your Guinness Stout Reduction a little at a time. Taste test to the desired flavor. You may not use all the Guinness reduction in the frosting. 

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Beer Mug Design  

I decide to make this cake as a buttercream design and used fondant only for the beer handle.

To achieve the beer colored frosting, you are going to use a combination of brown and yellow food coloring gel to create this shade, think of the color as a tan mustard shade.  

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Beer Handle  

What’s a beer mug without a handle, to create my handle I used white fondant and added a little tylose powder. It is best to prepare your beer handle well in advance, so it can dry.

To quicken the drying process, I used the tylose powder. Mold the handle to be roughly 5 inches tall and insert toothpicks into the tips of the handle. You can also insert the floral wire into the tips for a sturdier hold.  

Set aside the handle to firm up, this can be done overnight or a few days in advance to make it easier to insert into the sides of your cake without cracking.  

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Beer Foam  

While a true beer drink would hate to have a ton of foam on top of their beer. This is the piece de resistance as it adds a nice finishing touch to the cake.

To create this design, you are simply piping white buttercream on the top and sides of your cake. The piped foam gives the cake the right final touch to make it look like a nice tall glass of foamy beer.  

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Assembling the cake    

1. Stack and frost cake layers on a greaseproof cake board same size as cake rounds, using a dab of frosting to help the first cake layer stick to the board. 

2. Add another greaseproof cake board larger than the first using a dab of frosting for it to stick 

3. Evenly add a layer of colored buttercream between each cake layer. 

4. If your layers seem unstable, you can stick it in the freezer to firm up a little and insert a wooden dowel through the center of the cake for stability while crumb coating.  

5. Cover the cake in a thin coat of frosting, to seal off the cake layers and smooth using a bench scraper. 

6. Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes until the frosting is firm to the touch. 

7. Add a second, thicker layer of frosting to the cake. Pipe a line of white buttercream around the base of the cake, then covered the rest of the cake with the colored buttercream. Smooth using a bench scraper. 

8. Use your spatula to make vertical indents up the cake, to create the look of indentations on a beer mug. 

9. Pipe foam on top of the cake, and over some of the sides using white buttercream. 

10. Insert the beer mug handle you created in advance  

Bon Appetit, Enjoy! 

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Conclusion

We would love to see your beer mug cakes, nothing puts a smile faster on my face then seeing your beautiful creations.

Please feel free to email or DM with photos of your creations.

Leave a comment below, as we love hearing from our readers and never hesitate to reach out to with any questions. Until next time, Happy Caking!!