guinness cake with miso caramel and brown butter cream cheese

for the Guinness cake:

1. Preheat oven to 170 °C. Grease and line a 9-inch round cake pan well with baking parchment. I recommend a springform pan for ease.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine Guinness and the cubed butter. Warm the mixture over a medium heat just until the butter melts—don’t let it boil! Remove from heat.

4. Stir yoghurt and vanilla extract into the guinness mixture. Set aside.

5. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. The batter should be thick but pourable, slightly glossy, with no large lumps. As this is eggless it’s important not to over mix, so I like to stop myself a couple of stirs before I think it’s ready.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared & lined pan. Bake on the middle oven rack for 35–45 minutes and test with a skewer before removing from the oven. If your cake leaves a has smoothie consistency on the skewer, it needs to cook for longer. If the cake leaves a moist crumb, it’s time to take it out the oven.

7. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes before removing (it’s too fragile to handle at this stage). Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

for the miso caramel:

1. Add water and sugar to a medium-sized sauce pan - off the hob. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any sugar fall out - this will prevent crystallisation later on.

2. Gradually turn up the heat to medium for the sugar to dissolve into the water mixture. Only stir the sugar mixture by holding the pan handle and swirling. Do not stir with a utensil once on the heat, this can disrupt the caramelisation process.

3. After 4-6 minutes, the water will have dissolved and the sugar mixture will have bubbled and browned to a caramel colour. Keep brushing the sides of the pan with water so sugar crystals do not form up the side.

4. Once the caramel is a deep amber and fragrant with a rich, buttery sweetness, turn off the heat and carefully pour in the cream and stir vigorously to combine. The mixture will bubble up dramatically — keep a safe distance and use a long-handled spoon or spatula.

5. After a minute or so off the heat, stir in the miso and salt to taste. I recommend being generous with the salt as this balances the flavours of the cake and frosting.

6. Pour the caramel into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool completely, then transfer to the fridge for later. (this recipe makes a good amount of caramel so I use the remainder in yoghurt bowls, over sliced apples etc)

for the brown butter cream cheese frosting:

1. Prepare an ice bath large enough to hold the base of the pan — or simply fill your sink with an inch or two of very cold water.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally.

3. After 2–3 minutes, the butter will begin to crackle and spit as the water evaporates and the milk solids start to caramelise. Watch as it deepens from yellow to a rich amber.

4. Once it reaches a deep amber and smells nutty, remove from the heat immediately and carefully lower the pan into the ice bath or sink to stop the browning. Take care not to let any water splash into the hot butter.

5. Cool for 10 minutes at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl for the the refrigerator to cool completely and solidify. Be sure to scrape out and include the brown solids that have formed on the bottom of the pan (this is the flavour!)

6. Add the cold brown butter to a bowl and whisk on medium until smooth and consistent, add the cream cheese whisk some more before gradually adding the icing sugar. Being sure to scrap the sides of the bowl down throughout.

7. Add a pinch of salt and vanilla extract before setting to one side or refrigerating (if making ahead of time).

8. Pour the cream cheese frosting onto the completely cooled cake. Add the miso caramel as a finisher to each slice or pour over the entire cake, whatever your heart desires!

Enjoy!