Nigella Lawson fans say cake is most 'crowd-pleasing' and reliable recipe 'in existence'

One of Nigella Lawson's cakes has been called the "most crowd-pleasing" and reliable recipes "in existence". The celebrity chef first shared the recipe for her chocolate Guinness cake in her 2004 cookbook Feast, which featured "food that celebrates life".

Nigelladescribed the cake as "magnificent in its damp blackness", with enough sugar to counteract the bitterness of the Guinness while leaving a "resonant, ferrous tang". To make, preheat your oven to 170C and butter and line a 23cm springform tin. Pour 250ml of Guinnessinto a large, wide saucepan with the 250g of unsalted butter and heat until the butter is melted. Then, whisk in 75g of cocoa powder and 400g of caster sugar. Beat together 150ml of sour cream, two large eggs, and two and a half teaspoons of vanillaextract. Add this to the pan and whisk in 275g of plain flour and two and a half teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda. Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin before taking it out and putting it on a cooling rack.

Once cold, put it on a cake plate and get ready to ice. Whip 300g of cream cheese until smooth and sieve in 160g of icing sugar and two teaspoons of cornflour, beating to combine.

Then, you can either add 125ml of double cream or whipping cream. For double cream, add it to the cream cheese and beat until spreadable.

For whipping cream, whisk to soft peaks and combine with the cream cheese. Finally, ice the cooled black cake until it "resembles the frothy top of the famous pint".

The cake can be stored without icing in an airtight container in a cool place for up to five days. If iced, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.

The un-iced cake can be frozen, wrapped in a double layer of cling film and a layer of tin foil, for up to three months. Unwrap and thaw at room temperature for about four hours.

One Reddit user couldn't recommend the cake enough, saying: "Nigella's Chocolate Guinness cake is one of the most crowd-pleasing and reliable recipes in existence.

"I have made it many times and adjusted it to cupcakes and a large cake that feeds 30-plus people. If you haven´t tried it, you must!"

A user on Nigella's site said: "Simply brilliant! Comes together so easily, and the taste is out of this world! Family devoured it. Will make this again and again."

Others said that "it's the best cake on Earth - hands down" and that it's the "best ever recipe". The only downside is that, according to commenters, the cake tends to sink slightly in the middle after cooking, but that "this is nothing icing can't fix".