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
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.
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Notes
** 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.
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.
Shayla says
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!
Olivia says
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!
Cindy Adriano says
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??
Olivia says
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.
Stacy says
Hi, Olivia.
Can I use the cake recipe to make cupcakes?
Thanks.
Stacy
Olivia says
Hi Stacy! Yes they should work fine. Just reduce the baking time, start checking at 15mins or so.
Linee says
Would this cake be suitable for kids if I omit the baileys in the buttercream???
Olivia says
Hi Linee! I can’t say for sure. I don’t believe the alcohol will get completely cooked out of the cake.
Kelly says
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!!
Olivia says
Hi Kelly! Thanks for the great feedback. So glad it was a hit!!
Donna Goodison says
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?
Olivia says
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.
Donna Goodison says
Hello. If I can”t find black cocoa powder in time, is there a substitute?
Olivia says
Hi Donna! Yes, you can just use Dutch-processed instead or regular cocoa powder if that’s all you have 🙂
Rona says
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
Olivia says
Hi Rona! The cake should last a couple days in the fridge no problem 🙂
Neha says
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!
Olivia says
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 🙂
Pam Kozlow says
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?
Olivia says
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.
lissi says
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?
Olivia says
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.
Emily Hibbs says
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!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Emily! The baking time should be relatively the same for the two 8″ pans — 35-45mins I’d say.
Lisa says
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.
Olivia says
So happy to hear that you liked this Lisa! I LOVE this chocolate cake. Thank you!
Lisa Sharpe says
Can the buttercream be made ahead?
Olivia says
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.
Monica says
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.
Olivia says
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.
Monica says
Thanks! That makes more sense now!
Samantha says
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?
Olivia says
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.
Cindy Rodriguez says
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.
Olivia says
Ohh that sounds delicious too! It was my first time baking with beer but definitely not my last!
Elle says
What a gorgeous cake! Love all that frosting and ganache. Full flavors and lovely piping work on the top buttercream, too.
Olivia says
Thanks so much Elle!
Meg | Meg is Well says
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.
Olivia says
Thanks so much Meg! I think I might have to think up some more uses for beer in baking — it turned out perfect!
Patricia Cote says
Such a gorgeous, luscious looking cake! I surely NEED to make this beauty! I truly admire, too, your lovely photography.
Olivia says
Thanks so much Patricia! I hope you try this one 🙂