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Makes: 12 slices
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooling time: 3 hours

I first came across this cake when Nigella did it in her amazing book feast. Over the years I tweaked it a bit to suit me by adding real chocolate into it. Its a real winner and crowd pleaser and will be eternally grateful to her for introducing it to me .

A rich, chocolatey, sticky cake with a fudgey, Guinness tang, all dressed up like the iconic pint has got to be one of the best chocolate cake recipes EVER. Am making this cake for a friends wedding in 3 tiers. Awesome. A cake for the boys if you ask me.

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter, sliced
100g good quality plain chocolate (70%)
35g cocoa
400g caster sugar
1 x 142ml pot plain yoghurt
2 free range eggs
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
275g plain flour
2 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

for the frosting
300g Philadelphia cream cheese
150g icing sugar
125ml double or whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter and line a 23cm springform tin. Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, and heat until the butter has melted, at which time you should stir in the chocolate, cocoa and sugar. Beat the yoghurt with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the chocolatey, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

To make the frosting lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and then beat them both together. Separately whip the cream until it just begins to thicken but still holds it shape. Pour the cream to the cream cheese mix and beat again until combined and reaches a spreadable consistency. Frost the top of the Guinness cake. Familiar?