This recipe came about when I wanted to create a chocolate cake made with beer for St. Patrick’s Day, and at the same time, I became a bit obsessed with the idea of creating a “black velvet” cake and this Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake was the result!
It is the delicious, sophisticated – yet easy to make.
Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake
Red Velvet vs. Black Velvet
Red velvet cake is fairly well known and we have a couple of low FODMAP versions for you. Check out our Red Velvet Cake with Cooked Vanilla Icing and also our Red Velvet Cake with Sugared Cranberries.
Red Velvet cakes often include a fair amount of red food coloring and I have seen so-called “black velvet” cakes that use black food coloring. Our cake here relies on black cocoa, which you can read more about in our article, All About Cocoa.
How To Make Our Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake
Black cocoa is a type of Dutch-processed cocoa that is practically black! If you are familiar with the color and taste of Oreo cookies, you will recognize it immediately.
You need it to created the deep, dark allure of this Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake, so plan ahead. It is usually a specialty product that I have to mail order.
Beer & Whiskey
The cake contains a dark stout beer, such as Guinness. Monash University has lab tested and approved low FODMAP amounts of beer, but they have not dictated what kind of beer they tested. We have seen many people able to tolerate Guinness; always eat to your tolerances. Guinness is not considered gluten-free, therefore this cake is not either. You can choose a gluten-free beer, if you like, and the recipe will then be gluten-free.
Read our articles What If A Food Has Not Been Lab Tested For FODMAPs and The Low FODMAP Diet is Not A Gluten Free Diet.
Whiskey, which is used in the frosting, is low FODMAP in 30 ml amounts. This means our whiskey-enhanced frosting is well within low FODMAP guidelines, if our serving sizes are followed.
If you would like to read more about alcohol and the low FODMAP diet, we have a great article.
Let’s Bake Together and Make Our Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake!
Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake
Our Low FODMAP Black Velvet Chocolate Guinness Cake features a frosting flavored with whiskey, for a sophisticated chocolate cake. We love this for St. Patrick's Day or Father's Day, especially.
Low FODMAP Serving Size Info: Makes 1, 9-inch (23 cm) cake; 20 slices; serving size 1 slice
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 1 cup (240 ml) stout beer, such as Guinness; choose a gluten-free beer if following a gluten-free diet
- ½ cup (113 g) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 cups (396 g) sugar
- ½ cup (43 g) sifted Dutch-processed cocoa, plus 2 tablespoons extra to coat pan
- ¼ cup (21 g) sifted black cocoa
- ¾ cup (180 g) lactose-free sour cream
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 ¾ cups (254 g) plus 2 tablespoons low FODMAP gluten-free all-purpose flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free baking Flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (270 g) sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus extra if needed
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lactose-free milk
- 2 tablespoons whiskey
Preparation:
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For the Cake: Position rack in middle of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Generously coat the inside of a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan with nonstick spray. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of extra cocoa, rotating the pan to coat well with the cocoa; tap out any excess. Set aside.
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Place beer and butter in a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat to melt butter. Whisk together until combined. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar and both cocoas until combined and very smooth. Allow to cool briefly.
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Meanwhile, whisk the sour cream, egg and vanilla together until smooth, then whisk into the warmed cocoa mixture. Whisk together very well.
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Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl to aerate and combine. Add about a quarter of the liquid mixture and begin whisking to combine. Keep adding the liquid mixture to the dry, whisking well as you go. Make sure they batter is well mixed. It will be very fluid. You want to make sure there are no pockets of flour left behind. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
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Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging. The center might sink a bit; don’t worry! It will be covered with the delicious, creamy whiskey enhanced frosting.
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For the Frosting: Cream the butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until very smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar in a few batches, beating well until smooth and creamy after each addition, adding the liquid as well, starting with using only 1 tablespoon of the milk. Beat until very smooth, creamy and spreadable. If it is a bit too thick, add a little lactose-free milk; if it is too thin add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
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To Assemble the Cake: Scrape frosting on top of cooled cake and make some casual whirls and swirls using the images as a guide. The cake is best the day it is made but it may be stored under a cake dome at room temperature for a day or two.
Notes:
If You Can Tolerate
- Fructans: If you have successfully passed your fructan wheat Challenge, you can use conventional all-purpose flour in lieu of the GF. Use weights and not volume measurements when calculating the substitution for best results.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
I don’t see what temperature to set my oven to for baking this cake? Did I miss it or is it not posted?
Thanks!
All fixed to 350F/180C.
This sounds delicious and I’d love to make this right away. But black cocoa is currently unavailable on Amazon. Can we substitute with more regular cocoa powder?
Yes. Just use same amount called for of more Dutch-processed. Enjoy! Also, check out our COCOA article which has MANY new updates! Good reading.
This has become my go-to cake for celebrations. It is absolutely decadent. It never lasts in our house more than a day or two.
🙂 I haven’t made it in a while. So nice to hear you love it.
This guinness cake turned out AMAZING!! I topped it off with cream cheese frosting, and it was really good!!!! I did substitute a 1/4 cup of the sugar for a 1/4 cup more flour, so I used 1 3/4 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of flour. I’m 10, and I was making this for my dads birthday, and my mom is gluten free, so I used glutenberg’s gluten free stout, it uses buckwheat, and millet.
Oona, Happy Birthday to your dad and THANK YOU for writing! Sounds like you are a whiz in the kitchen and we are so thrilled to be in there with you! Enjoy!