Chocolate Guinness Cake Icing

Our answer

The icing on Nigella's Chocolate Guinness cake (from Feast and on the Nigella website) is made from cream cheese, icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) and double cream (heavy cream). Unfortunately in the last few years cream cheese icing seems to have come slightly difficult to make and we wonder whether the cream cheese (in the UK soft white cheese) now sold in plastic containers has a slightly different consistency to the old-fashioned blocks as there is usually a little water sitting in the container when you open it (even the full-fat kind). We would suggest substituting half of the cream cheese with softened, unsalted butter.

Beat the butter and icing sugar together first then beat in the cream cheese. Whip the cream to soft peaks and then fold or beat it into the frosting a little at a time, adding just enough to give a soft, spreading consistency.

If you live in the US then adding a tablespoon or two of instant vanilla pudding mix to the frosting can help to thicken a runny cream cheese frosting.