This rich chocolate cake is kicked up a notch with the delicious flavor of Baileys Irish Cream.
Nordic Ware sent me this Pine Forest Bundt pan to try out, but have not compensated me monetarily for this recipe. All opinions are my own.
Holiday baking season is in full swing, and I have been loving every minute of it. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how I missed out on most of last year’s Holiday season, so I’m sparing no expense this year. I kicked it off a with these Snow Capped Gingersnaps and am continuing the festivities with this Baileys Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake!
This month’s #BundtBakers theme — Hot Chocolate — comes to us from the lovely Tara over at Noshing with the Nolands.
It didn’t take me a long time to decide that I wanted to do another Baileys dessert. Baileys is a staple around our place most of the year, especially during the Christmas season, and it’s a perfect pairing for hot chocolate on those cold winter nights. The flavor goes so well with anything chocolate!
Holiday recipes also mean holiday bakeware! If you’ve been following my blog for any period of time, you know I have a minor Bundt addiction. So I was super excited when the wonderful folks over at Nordic Ware sent me this Pine Forest Bundt to test out for the holiday season.
I have an ever-growing Nordic Ware Bundt pan collection (they are the BEST) and I’ve just added another one to my Christmas wish list. Not only are the styles and shapes unique and stunning, the quality is unbeatable. I never have to worry about my cake sticking to the pans. It never does. Ever! And cleanup is a breeze, even in the most intricately detailed Bundt pans like this one. If you’re looking to jazz up your holiday table, this Pine Forest Bundt pan is the perfect addition.
One important note about this pan is that it has a lot of little crevices (which is part of what makes it so pretty). The batter for this Bundt recipe is quite thick and I took extra care to nudge it into every nook and cranny. Still though, I had some minor holes in the tops of some of the trees. If your batter is thinner, you likely won’t have this issue, but I recommend pouring a bit of batter in first and nudging it around with a spatula. Once you’ve done that, fill the pan with the rest of the batter and give it a good whack against the counter to get rid of any extra air pockets (I do this will all my Bundts).
This Baileys Hot Chocolate Bundt cake recipe is simple and delicious. There’s a generous amount of Baileys in the batter and you can really taste the flavor in every bite. The cake is dense and moist, like every good Bundt cake should be!
I kept the decoration of this Bundt simple, with just a dusting of powdered sugar to show off the details of the pretty Bundt pan. If you’d like a bit more sweetness you can pair it with some marshmallow fluff or a simple glaze made of powdered sugar and Baileys (or milk).
Baileys Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-cup bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Place butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on med-high until light and fluffy (approx. 3mins).
- Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low. Alternate adding flour mixture with Baileys and sour cream (3 additions of flour and 2 each of Baileys and sour cream). Beat until just combined.
- Spread the batter evenly in the bundt pan.*
- Bake for approx. 45-50mins or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool in bundt pan for 10mins. Whack bundt pan on the counter to loosen cake and turn out onto cooling rack to cool completely.
Tarra Hernandez says
Hi Olivia! I am very excited to make this Bundt cake. My family has this new adoration for Bundt cakes recently. I will be skipping out on the Baileys Irish cream as I just prefer the chocolate flavor alone. Will it make the cake dry without it or should I had in hot coffee to replace the liquor? Also, can add in a half a cup or so of chocolate chips to it? Thank you for your beautiful recipes. They’ve been a hit for every event! I always tell everyone your website with glee! Thank you and Merry Christmas!! 🎄
Olivia says
Hi Tarra! You should definitely add some liquid to replace the Bailey. You can do coffee if you like or milk. You can add chocolate chips as well, fold them in at the end. I can’t remember exactly how thick this batter is but hopefully the chocolate chips don’t sink all the way to the bottom 🙂 And thank you so much for the feedback on my recipes! Happy Holidays! 🙂
Michelle says
Hi Olivia
If I didn’t want to add the cocoa powder would I increase the flour by 1/2 cup?
Merry Christmas 🎄
Olivia says
Hi Michelle! I haven’t tried that myself specifically but you can give it a go. I don’t think it would be a disaster, but it obviously wouldn’t be chocolate 🙂
Tricia says
About 30 minutes after putting this in the oven- I found the bowl with the dry ingredients . I did what you said and added things in steps- I got interrupted and never added the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Surprisingly- it was amazing! It looked beautiful and was moist and delicious.
Olivia says
Hi Tricia! Glad it worked out 🙂
Marie Raptis says
Made this for a holiday dinner last evening. It’s beautiful with lots of compliments. I didn’t use the Bailey’s Irish Cream but instead replaced with Irish Cream coffee creamer by Starbucks because I wanted something without alcohol. I didn’t taste the Irish cream at all and I think I’ll bake for a bit less time (45 minutes). It felt just a tad dry which I was afraid of. But it was a real hit and will def repeat but with the real thing next time!
Olivia says
Hi Marie! So happy to hear it was a hit! The flavour of the creamer isn’t as strong as straight up Baileys so that’s probably why you couldn’t taste it as strong.
Marie & George Raptis says
This is beautiful and would like to serve at a holiday dinner but there are several who do not consume alcohol. What can I use as an alternative?
Olivia says
Hi Marie & George! See if you can find a non-alcoholic Irish cream. Otherwise you can leave it out. It won’t have the Baileys flavour but it will still be delicious!
Marie says
Thanks Olivia. Can I use Bailey’s Irish Cream coffee creamer as an option? If so, still use same amount as Bailey’s liquor?
Olivia says
Hi Marie, for sure. That’s a great idea!