Eat chocolate Guinness cake for St Paddy’s DayIreland

If there’s a dessert that perfectly sums up St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, it’s probably the one that looks suspiciously like a pint. We’re talking about the chocolate Guinness cake (ofc); dark, rich and topped with a creamy white frosting that mimics the foamy crown of a freshly poured Guinness. You can’t see us right now, but we’re smacking our lips together.

The cake itself is gloriously indulgent. The stout deepens the chocolate flavour rather than making it taste like beer (sorry to anyone hoping for a boozy sponge), resulting in something dense, slightly malty and unapologetically decadent. It’s the sort of bake that has won over everyone from cookbook royalty like Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi to Irish food hero Donal Skehan, which is about as solid a recommendation as you can get in the baking world.

Of course, eating it in Ireland just hits differently. On Inis Mór, the largest of the rugged Aran Islands along the Wild Atlantic Way, you can tuck into a slice at Teach Nan Phaidí, a cosy cottage café where the journey to get there (ferry and tiny plane) only makes the cake taste better.

Prefer your cake with a side of glamour? The afternoon tea at Anantara The Marker Dublin serves a version shaped like a perfect pint. Meanwhile in Cork, Alchemy café and bookstore pairs its homemade take with excellent coffee and an artsy, book-lined vibe.

Which proves one thing; in Ireland, even the cake comes with a head.

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