Yes, you read that correctly.
For the third time in my life I’ve been put on iron tablets, and I basically did nothing for the first two weeks of June because I was so tired. Obviously I am not eating enough spinach.
Anyway, there’s been a rumour flying around for years that Guinness is full of iron… I think it’s been disproved now to be honest.
But I’m not going to let that stop me from turning my own personal misfortune into an opportunity to make and eat a cake. A cake that could help cure me! So here we are.
Now I’ve never had Guinness until making this cake. I’m not a beer person. I’ve got a sweet tooth and so would always rather have a cocktail or a Malibu and Coke Zero.
So trying Guinness for the first time was… an experience. As my dad said before I tried the tiny drop I’d poured myself: “CAREFUL! Its’ an acquired taste.
Yes, it is, and it’s not for me. It smells like Coca-Cola but more fermented and it’s too bitter for my palate (fancy). I was glad about the 400g of sugar I was about to mix in.
And indeed, the cake batter once it’s all mixed together is so delicious. I don’t think you could really taste the Guinness in the batter, so I was interested to see what the cake was like when it was done. (Answer: great, but we’ll get to that part).
When I’d made the icing, I said to my mum: “Do you think I’ve got enough?”
“Not if you want to cover that crater in the middle,” she said.
Staring at the bowl, I knew she was right.
Yes it was true, the cake had sunk slightly in the middle. I think it happened when I opened the oven halfway to turn it round and get an even bake. And no, I did not have enough icing.
When I made the cake again (basically to take pictures for this blog), I made double the icing (the above picture shows a double quantity of the icing). The cake is really crumbly so in order to not get dark cake crumbs in my white icing, I had to do a crumb coat and obviously that took some of my icing. So yes, if you’re going to try this recipe, I’d recommend you make double the icing or at least 1.5 times the icing.
On to the taste test.
“It’s actually got a nice taste,” said my mum. She seemed surprised… “You could serve it to people, I think it’s café quality.”
“Yeah it’s alright, it’s nice,” said my dad, as he says every time. “It looks stodgy but it’s lighter than it looks.”
The dog also had a crumb, and she seemed to enjoy it. And my friend Charlotte said it was ‘PHENOMENAL’ – that’s right, ALL IN CAPS.
But most importantly. Do I feel cured of my iron deficiency? Do I feel as though I could tackle a lion, sprint a marathon, walk 500 miles in the snow?
Well, no. It breaks my heart to say this but I don’t think I can get away with eating a bit of cake every day to increase my iron levels.
But I made a cake, all in the name of science of course, and it was delicious so really I’m winning at life (even if I have to take iron tablets forever).
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Mmmm I luv Guinness cake – it’s nowt like the drink which is greatly improved by adding black(currant) – it deffo needs the philly cheese icing! Good enough excuse to keep eating for your iron deficiency 👍
Oh I didn’t know you could add black currant to it! All I know is that Guinness on its own, is not for me 😂