Zac Young shares St. Patrick’s Day recipe: Guinness Green Velvet Cake

Zac Young‘s boozy twist on a classic red velvet cake is the perfect treat to get Us in the St. Patrick’s Day atmosphere.

The Food Network star, 41, exclusively shared the recipe for his delicious Guinness Green Velvet cake in the latest issue of We weekly.

“The cake has just a hint of cocoa and allows the malty, hoppy flavor of the Guinness to shine through, especially when paired with the whiskey-enriched salted caramel glaze,” says Young. Us of the dessert.

The recipe is not only festive and fun, but also versatile. “Try it as a loaf, a single-layer round, or even cupcakes!” Young adds. The recipe enhances the flavors and appearance of a typical red velvet cake by adding Guinness’s famous stout and a dash of green food coloring. Not to mention, the frosting also contains a bit of Irish whiskey and is covered in green and gold sprinkles.

Holiday-themed baking is something Young has enjoyed since he started at the Institute of Culinary Education. Young has worked as Craveable Hospitality Group’s Pastry Director since 2012, helping to curate desserts found in the company’s restaurants and bars, and was even featured by Dessert professional as one of the top ten pastry chefs in America in 2015.

Food Network fans may also recognize Young because he finished in fourth place during Bravo’s first season Top Chef: Desserts only in 2010, and has also appeared on a number of cooking and baking shows, such as Unique sweets, Bakers versus Fakers, Success!, Minced meat, Defeat Bobby Flay And Halloween Baking Championship.

In addition to coming up with creative bakes like his Guinness green Velvet cake, Young is perhaps best known as the creator of the cake/tart combo, the PieCaken. He turned his green velvet cake into a St. Patrick’s Day-themed version of the desert called the “Saint PatCaken,” which fans can order through Goldbelly.

“We’ll start with our whiskey pecan pie. The next layer is Baileys cheesecake, followed by our ridiculously good Guinness green velvet cake,” Young said via voiceover in a Instagram baking video on Monday March 11. “It’s all tied together with our salted caramel frosting and topped with sprinkles. Lots of litter.”

Keep scrolling to see Young’s full Guinness Green Velvet Cake recipe:

Guinness Green Velvet Cake

Serves 6-10

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup Guinness
• 1 teaspoon green food coloring

For the glaze

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Irish whisky
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Coat a standard-sized loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda until no lumps remain.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar and eggs until smooth.

4. Add the oil and then the buttermilk to the egg mixture.

5. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix until just a batter.

6. Whisk in the Guinness and food coloring until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

7. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

8. Remove the cake from the pan when it has cooled.

For the glaze

1. Heat the butter in a microwave-safe bowl until melted, about 30 seconds.

2. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the brown sugar and microwave for another 30 seconds or until the sugar has dissolved.

3. Stir in the whisky, salt and icing sugar and beat until smooth.

4. Let the glaze cool to room temperature and spread the glaze over the cooled cake.

5. Decorate with green and gold sprinkles and sanding sugar as desired.

6. For best results, let the cake stand for at least 30 minutes so that the icing forms a crust before cutting.

With reporting by Crista Lacqua