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 flavour of many alcoholic beverages is delicious and lends itself so well to baked goods!
Baileys flavoured 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??
To make the Guinness Cake, I took my favourite 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.
Most Guinness Cake recipes you’ll fine 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.
If you don’t want to make both types of frosting, you can do either/or, 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 flavour, but either one would be equally delicious on its own.
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.
Flavour 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!
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.
- The recipe as-is can be used in two 8″ pans instead of three 6″ pans.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Baileys & Guinness Cake
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.
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
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
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
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 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 constantly.
- 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 35-40mins.
Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Baileys Swiss Meringue:
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 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.
NOTES
* You can speed up the thickening of the ganache by placing the it in the fridge, but you need to stir it often.
** Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won't stiffen.
*** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
**** If the ganache is too thin or soft and the cake layers start to slide around a bit during assembly, you can place 3-4 bamboo skewers into the top of the cake as support. You'll need to trim the skewers to the proper height of the cake.
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.
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!
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.
Hi Olivia,
I’m making this cake for my holiday get together. It’s turning out amazing so far! I had trouble with a couple things, maybe you could tell me where i went wrong (I’m not a novice baker by any means, but I wouldn’t call myself advanced, either). 1) The ganache split- was it possibly moisture that could have gotten in somehow? I was able to fix it, though. 2) This is my 1st try at swiss meringue buttercream. My egg whites and sugar took much longer than 3 minutes to heat up- like 10-15 minutes. Once it did I finished the recipe, and it might be our new favorite frosting!! it’s amazing! 3) I needed to make another 1/2 recipe to have enough to put the decorations on the cake. 4) It might just be my family, but we didn’t taste any baileys flavor at all. But the Guinness in the cake makes it sharp and super fantastic! I am not at all good at slicing and frosting a cake. I feel like such a goof doing them. my cake almost always falls apart, and my layers are lopsided… maybe that’s part of using a softer cake , too but I have been making cakes for others for over 15 years, and I haven’t gotten any better at this- LoL!
for presentation, I definitely would have liked to use the 3 6″ pans instead of 2 8’s. It would be much prettier!
Again, thanks for this recipe, it’s got a spot in my favorites!
Hi Shayla! I’m so happy to hear that you like this recipe!!
I’ve had trouble with ganache splitting before too, and to be honest, I’m still trying to figure out why it does that sometimes. I think it might have something to do with heat and the temperature of the cream, but I can’t be sure. Next time I make it I’m also going to leave the butter out and add more cream in case that is a culprit (though that has worked for me multiple times). Sorry I’m not too much help in that area, but glad you were able to save it!!
For the buttercream — that does seem like a long time — were you using a glass bowl by chance? I know it can take longer in those, or maybe the water just needed to be simmering a bit more strongly. I’m so glad you love the frosting, it’s my fave kind!!
The Baileys flavour isn’t crazy strong, you could always try adding a bit more to either the ganache or frosting.
I am sure your cake looked delicious but the most important part is that everyone loved the flavour!
Hi Olivia-
question- recipe calls for dark good quality of dark chocolate; I have ordered Callebaut Choc chips from King Arthur in the past. Which one would u suggest I use?? (Also- would Gharidellis choc work as well?)also- instead of black cocoa- can I use a good quality of Dutch cocoa?? I just got back from Holland& brought some Droste Cocoa in Amsterdam. – will the cake not be as dark or rich if I don’t use black cocoa??
Hi Cindy! Both Callebaut and Ghirardelli will work well. You can swap in more Dutch for the black cocoa but the cake will not bake up as dark.
Hi, Olivia.
Can I use the cake recipe to make cupcakes?
Thanks.
Stacy
Hi Stacy! Yes they should work fine. Just reduce the baking time, start checking at 15mins or so.
Would this cake be suitable for kids if I omit the baileys in the buttercream???
Hi Linee! I can’t say for sure. I don’t believe the alcohol will get completely cooked out of the cake.
Made this cake this weekend and it was a huge hit!!! I frosted the whole cake in the buttercream and did ganache in layers and as an accent. I would like to do this cake on a larger scale using 3 8″ cake pans. Also want to eliminate the guinness.
Would I just 1.5X the recipe to make the 3 8″cakes? Also, can I use coffee/hot water instead of guinness.
Thanks for such great recipes!!
Hi Kelly! Thanks for the great feedback. So glad it was a hit!!
Also, should this cake be refrigerated after completion and, if so, how long in advance should it be taken out before serving on a hot summer day?
Hi Donna! I always recommend refrigerating unless you’re eating it the same day. Take it out about 3 hours before serving so it can come to room temp.
Hello. If I can”t find black cocoa powder in time, is there a substitute?
Hi Donna! Yes, you can just use Dutch-processed instead or regular cocoa powder if that’s all you have 🙂
Hi!
This cake looks amazing! I’m going to attempt to make it for my fiancée’s birthday. As it’s a hevanly mix of his three favourite things.
I want to make it in advance though, so it’s a surprise. How long will the cake last for? Would it be ok to make 2 days prior? Thanks
Hi Rona! The cake should last a couple days in the fridge no problem 🙂
Hi Olivia! I was wondering what depth your cake pans are? I love the size of these 6 in cakes but I can’t decide if I should get 2 in or 3 in deep pans? I already purchased 8×4 in pans and they make for a massive cake. I don’t want to order the wrong size again!
Hi Neha! All of mine are 2″ deep, but I wish they were 3″ as some of my cakes bake right up to the top. Either will work though 🙂
This cake sounds amazing but beer is something I never developed a taste for. My question is if I use the beer do you taste that in the cake and, if so, what would be a good substitute?
Hi Pam! I don’t like beer either! At all. You *can* taste it in this cake, but maybe almost more of an after-taste. I actually didn’t mind it, especially paired with the ganache and buttercream. This may be the only way I’ll ever have beer 😉 If you don’t want to use beer, you can replace it with either hot water or hot coffee.
I was just wondering if i could use regular american buttercream instead of the swiss meringue..if so how much butter and sugar would you suggest?
Hi lissi! I haven’t tried it with American buttercream, but it would work for sure. You could try a ratio of 1 cup butter to 3 cups powdered sugar.
Hey! I love your blog! It’s been very inspirational for me!
This recipe says that 8″ cake pans can be substituted for the 6″ ones. How long should the 8″ cake pans be baked for, if used?
Thanks!
Thanks so much Emily! The baking time should be relatively the same for the two 8″ pans — 35-45mins I’d say.
I made this cake this weekend & it is amazing! I made just the ganache & just like your instructions said it was enough for the whole cake. Your recipe is wonderful! Now I’m going to try the chocolate cake recipe you said you modified with Guinness. This is best chocolate cake! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
So happy to hear that you liked this Lisa! I LOVE this chocolate cake. Thank you!
Can the buttercream be made ahead?
Hi Lisa! Yes, you can make it ahead. If refrigerated you’ll need to bring it to room temperature and you may need to rewhip it until it’s fluffy again.
I’m just about to start this cake and have a question about the ganache… once it’s made and chilled doesn’t it set up pretty firm? This would make frosting a soft cake a mess. You’ve put asterisk following those instructions, however, the notes pertain to the buttercream.
Hi Monica, good catch, I hadn’t updated the notes section. It’s updated now! The ganache should still be quite soft (like a buttercream) when you’re frosting the cake — I don’t chill mine but leave it on the counter overnight to thicken. It will set very firm once chilled.
Thanks! That makes more sense now!
Hi! I’m making this cake on Thursday but making the ganache tomorrow night. When I’m ready to assemble do I use the ganache straight from the fridge or do I bring it to room temp?
Hi Samantha! The ganache will be too hard if you put it in the fridge. I’d recommend leaving it on the counter at room temperature until you’re ready to use it. If you do refrigerate it though, it should be fine if you bring it to room temp again. That might take a long time though to soften it up.
Ooooh, so decadent! I love these types of dark beer cakes, so rich and different. I made a layered cake with Black Sapporo Beer last year and it was divine.
Ohh that sounds delicious too! It was my first time baking with beer but definitely not my last!
What a gorgeous cake! Love all that frosting and ganache. Full flavors and lovely piping work on the top buttercream, too.
Thanks so much Elle!
This is making me so hungry and it’s so perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! I love baking with beer, I think it compliments chocolate so well.
Thanks so much Meg! I think I might have to think up some more uses for beer in baking — it turned out perfect!
Such a gorgeous, luscious looking cake! I surely NEED to make this beauty! I truly admire, too, your lovely photography.
Thanks so much Patricia! I hope you try this one 🙂