Earlier I posted this photo via Instagram with the comment “My dad would be very happy my St. Patrick’s Day dessert features orange icing. Chocolate Orange Guinness Cake.” I thought it was worth expanding into a blog entry with a better explanation.
First, as the caption states, it’s a Chocolate Orange Guinness Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting and it turned out delicious. I chose it based on the fact that it contained Guinness therefore, it went well with my traditional feast of corned beef and cabbage with potatoes. However, after I began making it, I realized that my father would be very happy about this cake. Not because he had a sweet tooth (he did) or because he had some affinity for Guinness (he did not), but because the the orange buttercream was orange in color.
You see, my father, being 100% Italian, was the only one in our house who had no Irish in him. As such, he jokingly rebelled against St. Patrick’s Day and everything green. When we made desserts that were died green, she insisted they did not taste as good as their naturally colored counterparts. He was known for wearing orange on St. Patrick’s Day just because he could. On years when he made a concession such as wearing a green tie to work, he would also sport the pin my mother gave him which featured his favor orange cat, Garfield, saying “It’s St. Patrick’s Day, big fat hairy green deal!”
So, consider consider this cake an unintentional nod to my dad and the holiday he felt came one time too many each year.