A rich chocolate cake infused with Guinness, paired with a Baileys dark chocolate ganache and a Baileys buttercream. This Baileys & Guinness Cake is the perfect grown-up treat.
You know, for someone who doesn’t really drink, I have more than my fair share of boozy desserts.
I love a good, sweet cocktail, but you’ll never catch me with a glass of wine or a beer. My palette just prefers sweet drinks (surprised??) and I generally don’t like the taste of alcohol.
That being said, the flavor of many alcoholic beverages is delicious and lends itself so well to baked goods — especially with this Baileys & Guinness Cake!
Baileys flavored desserts are not new to me. In fact, I think they are far too common on this blog (not that that’s a bad thing).
Guinness though — I think this might be the first time I’ve ever tried it. So what better way to try it than in cake form, right?? I actually took a sip of it after using what I needed in the cake… I think I’ll stick with the boozy desserts.
This Baileys & Guinness Cake is a long time coming. I actually planned to make it last year for St. Paddy’s Day but never got around to it and made a Mint Chocolate Chip Cake instead. Better late than never though, right??
How to Make a Guinness Cake
To make this Guinness Cake, I took my favorite Chocolate Cake recipe and simply swapped out the hot water for hot Guinness. The result worked perfectly.
I also swapped out some of the Dutch-process cocoa powder for black cocoa to intensify the deep, dark color of the cake — trying to emulate the actual color of Guinness. If you don’t have black cocoa though, Dutch-processed or regular cocoa powder will work fine.
Baileys Buttercream & Ganache
Most Guinness Cake recipes you’ll find online pair the cake with a Baileys cream cheese frosting. While that sounds like a perfectly delicious combo, I wanted to do something a little different, so I made a Baileys dark chocolate ganache and Baileys Swiss meringue to go with the cake.
Cake Tip!
If you don’t want to make both types of frosting, you can do either but see my tips below if you decide to do only one or the other.
I like both in the cake both for a stunning color contrast and for flavor, but either one would be equally delicious on its own.
Be sure to check out my detailed tutorial on How to Make Ganache for tips and troubleshooting.
Something I should note is that this is actually my second version of this cake, because I tried and failed to do a pretty ombre frosting with the ganache and buttercream.
I started with the ganache at the bottom and it totally solidified on the cold cake, which made it impossible to blend in a pretty way. I tried to do something more rustic to compensate, but it just didn’t work, so I redid the whole thing.
Flavor wise, the cake is delicious! Even for someone who doesn’t like beer, I’m a huge fan of this cake. You can taste the beer, but it’s almost more of an after-taste (to me anyhow) and it goes so well with the Baileys frostings.
If you’re a Baileys/Guinness fan or looking for something fun and unique for St. Paddy’s day, this cake is for you!
Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day Recipes?
- Coffee & Baileys Cake
- Baileys Cheesecake Cookie Cups
- Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
- Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes
- Coffee & Baileys Macarons
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans but the layers will be thinner. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
- The ganache can be made a day or two in advance and kept at room temperature. Place plastic wrap directly on top to prevent a skin from forming. Do not refrigerate as it will get too firm.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option for this recipe.
What if I don’t have Dutch-process Cocoa Powder?
- I like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder in all of my chocolate recipes, but regular cocoa powder will work just fine. Dutch-process has had some of the acid stripped from it and yields a richer flavor overall. Again, it won’t make or break the recipe to use regular cocoa powder here.
What if I don’t have buttermilk?
- Buttermilk is not optional and cannot be swapped for milk as it will affect the overall result.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own at home by combining 1 cup of milk (whole milk ideally, but I often just use 1%) with 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it sit for 10mins.
Can I use hot coffee instead of hot water?
- You’ll often see this kind of chocolate cake recipe using hot coffee instead of hot water in the batter, and you can use either.
Tips for making this Baileys & Guinness Cake
- Use the best quality chocolate you can find for the ganache, it makes a huge difference! I use Callebaut.
- If you like, you can skip the buttercream and just use the Baileys ganache between all the layers. The recipe makes enough for the whole cake.
- If you’d like to use the Baileys buttercream instead of ganache, double the buttercream recipe.
- I like to prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release then line with parchment.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and How to Make Ganache posts for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Baileys & Guinness Cake
Ingredients
Baileys Chocolate Ganache Frosting: (make in advance)
- 20 oz good quality dark chocolate chopped, not bakers chocolate
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
Chocolate Guinness Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
- 1/4 cup black cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup Guinness hot
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Baileys Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 2 Tbsp Baileys Irish Cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Baileys Chocolate Ganache Frosting (make in advance):
- Place chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream, Baileys, and butter. Cook over med heat, stirring often until it just barely starts to simmer.
- Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Stir gently with a spatula until completely smooth. If needed, place over a double boiler and stir until all chocolate has melted.
- Place plastic wrap directly on top of chocolate ganache. Allow to thicken and set overnight.*
Chocolate Guinness Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6″ round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.
- Place flour, sugars, cocoas, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
- Place Guinness into a small saucepan and heat until just simmering.
- In a medium bowl whisk buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Temper this mixture with the heated Guinness — pour hot Guinness into the bowl very slowly while whisking egg mixture quickly.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
- Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. A total of 30-35mins.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Baileys Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.**
- Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot (160F) and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
- Add Baileys and vanilla and whip until smooth.***
Assembly:
- Cut each layer of cake in half horizontally.
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving dish. Top with about 1/2 cup buttercream, spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers alternating buttercream with ganache. Frost and smooth the outside with a thin crumb coat. Chill for at least 20mins until firm and set.****
- Frost the chilled cake with the remaining ganache. It will start to set quicjkly against the cold cake.
- To smooth the top and sides of the cake, use a metal bench scraper and offset spatula that have been run under hot water (wipe them off before use). Keep heating the scraper/spatula and repeat the process until the sides and top are smooth.
- Using the remainder of the buttercream, do a rope border on the top using a Wilton 6B piping tip.
- Decorate bottom with chocolate flakes if desired.
Helen in CA says
The cake & buttercream were really lovely. Only 3 stars because the frosting was really hard. Hard to the point of cracking/shattering when cutting to serve. & too solid when hardened as filling, like having fudge literally instead of filling. Cold kitchen & I assembled the cake after freezing it. Defrosted for a couple of hours. Might have been a factor.
That said, really tasty fudge (I may keep this recipe to use as fudge). But overwhelming the cake/buttercream when made w/ really dark chocolate.
Good moist cake. The Baileys was really really subtle to the point of not really aware in the buttercream. Which doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good, just very subtle.
Olivia says
Hi Helen! The ganache frosting gets very firm in the fridge, but should soften again at room temperature. I find a hot knife makes for easy cutting on a chilled cake. Frosting a cold cake with it would have caused it to set very quickly and firm up so that was definitely a factor. It does have a strong flavour, I agree. Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Helen in CA says
Crazy question: if you go w/the 3 6″ pans…..how the heck did you slice the cake?
What tool did you use?
Olivia says
Hi Helen! It is a tall cake for sure. I just used a chefs knife to cut and portion it. I find it easiest to do with a hot knife and a chilled cake 🙂
Christine Jensema says
Hi, just finished making this cake, looking forward to eating it,. One quick question, does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Olivia says
Hi Christine! The cake will be fine at room temperature for a couple days, but I tend to refrigerate my cakes and take them out 2-3 hours before serving.
Lauren says
Just made this the other day and got so many compliments! It was delicious thank you for this lovely recipe
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! So happy everyone loved it. Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Tanya says
Does dutch process cocoa come in black? I want to make a totally black cake.
Olivia says
Hi Tanya! Yes! You can get black cocoa powder. I’ve used it before here.
Amy says
Just a quick question before I dive in, can you use any stout or does it have to be Guinness?
Olivia says
Hi Amy! Any stout will work just fine.
Anne says
I will be making my husband’s birthday cake but having found your cakes I can’t make up my mind which one to make. Haha Is this came ok for kids too?
Olivia says
Hi Anne! I wouldn’t totally recommend this one for kids. The alcohol won’t fully bake out of the cake layers and there is alcohol in the ganache and frosting. It’s not a lot of it, but still. What other cakes were you thinking of?
Diana says
Do you have a high altitude (6000ft) recipe for this?
Olivia says
Hi Diana! I don’t, and it might require some experimenting depending on how high up you are. Here’s a site I refer people to with tips and guidelines: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Kimberly Bahmanyar says
Would it be possible to do an alcohol free version of the ganache, say using Bailey’s Coffee Creamer? The beer alcohol will burn off so I’m not concerned about that.
TIA!!
Olivia says
Hi Kimberly! You can totally use the creamer instead. Just FYI though that the alcohol won’t completely burn off in the baked cake.
Lauren says
Hi! I was wondering if you can freeze the cake before assembly. If so, how long can you freeze for.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! You can freeze the cake layers (double wrapped in plastic wrap) for 3 months or so.
Carol says
Hi Olivia
I made this recipe for new year’s eve party and my family loved it! Can I double the recipe to bake this cake in three 10 inch round pans? How do I make this recipe more to bake it in 10 inch rounds or rectangular pans?
Looking forward
Thanks
Carol
Olivia says
Hi Carol! So happy you loved it 🙂 Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html Judging by that, I think doubling it would work for two 10″ pans.
Julie says
The cake was REALLY good but the frostings were challenging to make and consumed a lot of time.
I had trouble with the chocolate ganache. I used Giardelli 85% cacao unsweetened and less than the recipe amount. However, the ganache thickened so much – at room temperature, that it needed to be diluted. Also, the chocolate completely overwhelmed the taste of the baileys. I diluted the ganache with a flavored milk and it then spread nicely.
The baileys buttercream was delicious but quite a lot of work to make. If I made it again, I might take a simpler approach of starting with a cream cheese based frosting and adding the baileys to that.
The cake tasted and looked great, especially that is was not sweet. What. fun cake to make after an event of Guinness tasting!
Olivia says
Hi Julie! So happy to hear you loved the cake but sorry you had trouble with the frostings :\ The ganache should be quite soft (with the original ratios) at room temperature. Did you refrigerate it at any point? It will become quite firm in the fridge and I’m not sure if it will come back to it’s original softness, but I actually found it a bit challenging because it was more on the softer side. I agree though that the Baileys isn’t crazy strong a flavour and can be easily overwhelmed. I’m glad you loved it anyhow and I appreciate your feedback!
Kari says
My ganache completely hardened overnight on the counter. I used the chocolate you recommended and the ratios. Can I save it?
Olivia says
Hi Kari! Mine was very soft still so there must have been something off. You can warm it up again slowly to a spreadable consistency 🙂
Helen in CA says
I too had problems w/the ganache hardening overnight. And stayed hard during the day. (would make AMAZING truffles). If one has this problem, thoughts about how to warm it enough to assemble the cake?
I’m thinking perhaps putting the bowl into a pan of hot water? Or ???
Olivia says
Hi Helen! Did you refrigerate the ganache? It should be left at room temperature and will be on the softer side. Chilling it firms it up a lot though. If you leave it out for a few hours to come to room temp again though it will soften. You could also microwave it or heat it over a hot water bath but that might soften it too much.
Jennifer says
Just curious if you have a recommendation about how to transport these tall cakes. My cake caddy is too short.
Olivia says
Hi Jennifer! I don’t often transport my cakes, but I do have a taller, collapsible cake carrier that works for most: https://amzn.to/2ZPUiUg
Suzanne says
I’d love to bake this for some friends but one is gluten free. Any advise on what a good substitute fir the flour in this recipe (or cakes in general). I have a combo product and also almond flour but could purchase something else.
Olivia says
Hi Suzanne! I don’t bake GF myself, but a frequently recommended flour is the Cup 4 Cup GF flour blend: https://amzn.to/2YNoRcX Though any all purpose GF flour blend should work.
Lisa says
Hi! I’m making your cake for my son in laws 30th birthday. Do you crumb coat the cake with the chocolate ganache or the buttercream icing? Thank you so much!!
Olivia says
Hi Lisa! Good question. I crumb coated with the ganache.
Lisa says
Thank you so much!! I just made the ganache and will be making the cake tomorrow….thank you for an awesome cake!!
Lisa says
Hi! I made this amazing cake yesterday for my son-in-laws 30th birthday party today!! Everyone loved it and couldn’t stop raving about how delicious it was. Thank you for a great recipe!!!
Olivia says
Yay! So happy to hear that 🙂 Glad you all loved it!
Jessica Donnithorne says
Hi, this recipe sounds and looks fantastic! I’m hoping to make this as a wedding cake. Please could I just check what measurements you’re using. Is it Canadian cups? Not sure if there’s a difference between American and Canadian cups as I’m in the UK! Many thanks,
Jessica
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! If it helps, there is a metric converter below the list of ingredients 🙂 I am in Canada but the difference between Canada and US is minor.
Laurie Gardiner says
Olivia,
I made this cake for an early St Patrick’s Day dinner and wow it was awesome!! I had no idea how easy it is to make ganache and the meringue buttercream is AMAZING!! I did have a little problem with the meringue but it was baker error. I remember my mom saying you can whip too long and ruin the egg whites, I think I was on the verge of stiff peaks and got scared and then I added the butter too soft. But, I read your tips, put it back in the mixer and mixed it longer until it was smooth and firmer. I also made the cake strips w/newspaper & foil…what a difference. I know someone in the past questioned the cake for kids, when you consider the alcohol content of guinness and bailey’s compared to the overall volume of cake batter and the amount that will bake/cook out (although not 100%), personally don’t have an issue with it. They would have eat a lot, it’s not like using liquor or eating a cake soaked in rum after it’s baked. That’s just my personal opinion (I realize in your position it may not be a question you would want to answer either way). My decorating skills need improvement but who cares when the cake tastes like this one! Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Laurie! So glad you loved this cake and found the ganache and buttercream easy!! Thanks for all your tips and input 🙂 And I agree, it all comes down the the taste anyhow!!
Paula says
The ganache turned out perfect…. and the cake seemed to be cooking well, in fact it was almost over the top of the pan. About 5 minutes before I was suppose to take it out it sank. Does anyone know why that happened? I am not a novice baker, I’ve never had that happen before.
Olivia says
Hi Paula! Did you open the oven door at any time before it set? Or are you at high elevation by chance?
Elizabeth says
I tried the recipe for a dinner party with our priests. The cake and ganache came out perfect but the Baileys Swiss Meringue did not turn out at all. I’ve made meringue before but never did a hot water bath with it before. It had stiff peaks but then when I added the butter, vanilla and baileys it became more liquidity. We have alot of humidity so not sure if that is what it was. I put it in the fridge to try and harden it but that didn’t work. When I piped it on the top of the ganache, it just melted and ran down the sides of the cake. What did I do wrong ?
Although it wasn’t pretty, it sure tasted good. I’d like to try it again but need to figure out what I’m doing wrong.
Thanks.
Olivia says
Hi Elizabeth! Strange that it didn’t firm up after some time in the fridge. I suspect it might have needed more of that. Here’s a post I did recently with tips and troubleshooting of Swiss meringue buttercream (https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/). Have a read through that and let me know how your next attempt goes!!
Daniela Castillo says
I made this cake last night for a friend’s birthday. I followed the recipe exactly except that I used only dutch process cocoa. Got the best ingredients and it turned out AMAZING, probably the best cake I’ve ever made. I’ve tried about four Guiness cake recipes out there and this is the absolute best by FAR. The Baileys buttercream is heavenly and I plan to make it for other cakes. I did two 8″ molds and used damp strips of an old towel instead of the Wilton cake strips and it worked great. I got lots of compliments and definitely plan to make this again. Unfortunately we were so eager to eat it that I didn’t snap a photo of it. Thank you for sharing your cake knowledge. I will try other cakes from your site. Also, where do you find those chocolate sprinkles used on the base of the cake? I used just the standard ones from a culinary store… not as fun 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Daniela! Wow! Seriously high praise. I’m so glad you finally found a Guinness cake that you like! I love the Baileys buttercream too. I got the chocolate sprinkles at a local shop here, but you can also find them on Amazon.
Jennifer says
I made the Baileys Chocolate Ganache Frosting and Baileys SMBC from this recipe!
I made the Baileys Chocolate Ganache Frosting in the microwave, as I’ve had ganache split on the stovetop, and had zero issues! It was so shiny and smooth (I think from the addition of the butter). Baileys taste was fairly mild and the frosting was very rich! I used this as a filling for a different cake.
The Baileys SMBC was completely delicious and is a new favorite! Baileys taste was moderately prominent and perfectly balanced! Loved this one so much!
Olivia says
Hi Jennifer! As always, thank you for your feedback, it’s so appreciated! Glad you liked the ganache and SMBC, the SMBC is a fave over here too! And I’m definitely using the microwave to make my ganache from now on — too many split ganaches the other way.