We’re here! The week of St. Patty’s Day!
As a proud Irish person, I always take great joy in this holiday.
Growing up, my father would insist that his three daughters all wear kelly green on St. Patty’s Day. It was non-negotiable. I have, naturally, carried on the tradition into adulthood and parenthood, and come Thursday, we’ll all be clad in loads of kelly green.
While my younger days focused more on the party aspect of St. Patty’s, my almost-40-year-old self has different priorities. Like, making sure the kids have green shirts to wear, setting out gold coins for them to find from the leprechaun, and figuring out something fun for everyone to eat.
This Chocolate Stout Cake with Whiskey Fudge & Bailey’s Buttercream is just the thing to ring in this fun holiday, and it harkens me back to my early 20s when the similar alcoholic concoction flowed freely. The drink was a tradition with my friends on St. Patty’s Day, whether you were actually Irish or not.
It consisted of taking a pint of Guinness beer and dropping in a shot glass full of Jameson whiskey and Bailey’s Irish cream. Then, you would chug (yes, CHUG) said pint of Guinness as fast as you could. I can’t imagine doing this now, but I still remember how DELICIOUS the combination of flavors was. It was like a Guinness milkshake.
I was never much of a chugger, but I was always first in line when the drink came up in convo. I seriously loved them. Maybe because they were such a departure from all the cheap beer that was consumed back then?
I wanted to take those same flavors and make them into a fun and festive cake! And thus, this recipe was born.
Rich, decadent chocolate stout cake filled with Irish whiskey fudge and coated in an addicting Bailey’s buttercream. That rich, fun cocktail in cake form!
It’s just…delicious. No chugging involved.
The cake is based off of my favorite mocha cake, and just like that one, it does NOT disappoint. So fudgy and rich and FULL of chocolatey goodness. It’s the best chocolate cake ever.
The filling is also a riff on the filling for that mocha cake. It’s just boozier! Irish whiskey is not for the faint of heart, but darn it, it’s so good here. The filling is sweet and chocolatey but with a surefire kick.
The Bailey’s buttercream brings everything together. Just like the Bailey’s does in the drink. It sort of smooths over the other flavors, adding rich and creamy sweetness to the situation. The buttercream, like the filling, has a distinct booziness to it, but it’s also incredibly yummy. I had a hard time stopping myself from licking too much off my spatula.
Here’s how to put this festive cake together!
Ingredients You Need for This Chocolate Stout Cake:
- Unsalted butter
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Espresso powder
- Eggs
- Avocado or canola oil
- Stout beer – I recommend Guinness
- Buttermilk
- Vanilla
Ingredients You’ll Need for the Whiskey Fudge Filling:
- Heavy cream
- Granulated sugar
- Kosher salt
- Semisweet chocolate chips
- Irish whiskey – I recommend Jameson
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
Ingredients You’ll Need for the Bailey’s Buttercream:
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Kosher salt
- Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
Tips & Tricks:
- I make this cake using two 9-inch cake pans. I recommend using cake pans with higher sides. These are the exact cake pans I use (they are the BEST). Dividing the batter between two of these pans has never caused me any problems – the batter recipe fills them two-thirds full, and during the baking process, they always bake right up to the top of the pans without overflow. If you have cake pans with lower sides, I highly recommend baking this in THREE 9-inch cake pans and assembling the cake as a three-layer cake. I also recommend baking with the pans set on a baking sheet so that if there is overflow, it goes on the baking sheet and not your oven.
- Baking this cake at a lower temperature (300°F) yields a fudgy, very moist cake. I recommend baking at this lower temperature and adding more time, as needed, to get the cakes cooked through. The longest I’ve had to bake these cakes is 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Because this recipe has a higher wet-to-dry ingredient ratio, the resulting cake is a bit crumbly and extremely fudgy and moist. I highly recommend that you frost the cakes after they have been chilled in the fridge – this makes it much easier! Not only will the cakes hold together better in general, but you also will have fewer crumbs getting into your frosting.
- MY TIMELINE FOR ASSEMBLY: My plan of attack is usually to bake the cakes the day before I want to serve them, let them cool completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to assemble. I make the filling and the frosting on the day that I want to serve and then assemble while the cakes are still chilled. Once the cake is frosted, I recommend keeping it in the fridge. Take it out roughly 30 minutes before you want to serve it so it isn’t ice cold.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Irish Coffee Pancakes With Whiskey Syrup
- Irish Cream Lucky Charms Treats
- Chocolate Stout Cheesecake
- Boozy Homemade Shamrock Shakes With Guinness Hot Fudge
- Mocha Cake With Fudge Filling & Espresso Frosting
I can’t wait for you to try this stunner of a boozy cake! It’s so much fun and really takes me back to those St. Patty’s Days rung in with the friends and lots of Guinness concoctions.
Sláinte!
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Chocolate Stout Cake with Whiskey Fudge & Bailey’s Buttercream
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
This Chocolate Stout Cake with Whiskey Fudge & Bailey’s Buttercream is a taste of the famous drink combining Guinness, Jameson whiskey, and Bailey’s Irish cream. Rich, dark chocolate stout cake is filled with whiskey fudge and covered in Irish cream buttercream. It’s boozy, rich, decadent, and the perfect dessert to ring in St. Patty’s Day!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the cake pans
- 3 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup avocado or canola oil
- 1 cup stout beer
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Whiskey Fudge Filling:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons Irish whiskey
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
For the Bailey’s Buttercream:
- 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and liberally butter two 9-inch round pans (See important NOTE below).
- Place the butter and chocolate chips in a small bowl and place in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and then microwave again for another 15 seconds. Stir until the butter and chocolate are both melted and glossy.
- Into a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs until lightened in color and slightly frothy, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture.
- In a large measuring cup, stir together the oil, stout beer, buttermilk, and vanilla (don’t be alarmed if it looks a little curdled before it gets mixed into the other ingredients).
- Slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the egg mixture, mixing until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in two or three batches, mixing until just combined. Resist the urge to overmix the batter. You want to mix until all the dry ingredients are visibly incorporated.
- Place the cake pans on a large baking sheet. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake in the middle of the oven until a tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, roughly 60-75 minutes (check after an hour).
- Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes and then carefully invert them onto cooling racks to finish cooling.
- Cake layers may be made a day or two ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, in the fridge. I actually prefer to do the cakes ahead because they are easier to frost if chilled.
For the Whiskey Fudge Filling:
- In a saucepan, bring cream, sugar, and salt to a simmer over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.
- Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Stir in the whiskey.
- Cut butter into pieces and add, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable. This should take 20-30 minutes. You want it to be of a fudgy consistency so that it does not run out the sides of the cake during assembly. I let it cool until it is a similar consistency to frosting.
For the Bailey’s Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter with the whisk attachment for 2 minutes, or until they are fluffy, creamy, and well combined.
- Add in the salt, Bailey’s and vanilla and whisk on low speed to combine.
- Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat the frosting until it is thick and creamy.
To Assemble:
- Place the first cake layer on a cake pedestal (or plate). Spread the cooled fudge filling mixture on top of the first layer. Do not go all the way to the edge. Top with the second cake layer.
- Dollop half of the frosting on top of the cake and work it around the top and down the sides, swirling the frosting evenly as you go. This will serve as a “crumb coat.” Place the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes so the first layer of frosting can set.
- Spread the second layer of frosting over top of the first (this will cover up any cake crumbs that have worked their way into the first layer of frosting), smoothing everything out as you go.
- Slice and serve! Store any leftover cake well wrapped in the fridge and allow enough time to let it come back to room temperature before serving again (See NOTE below).
Notes
- I made this cake using two 9-inch cake pans. That said, I recommend using cake pans with higher sides. These are the exact cake pans I use (they are the BEST). Dividing the batter between two of these pans has never caused me any problems – the batter recipe fills them two-thirds full, and during the baking process, they always bake right up to the top of the pans without overflow. If you have cake pans with lower sides, I highly recommend baking this in THREE 9-inch cake pans and assembling the cake as a three-layer cake. I also recommend baking with the pans set on a baking sheet so that if there is overflow, it goes on the baking sheet and not your oven.
- Baking this cake at a lower temperature (300°F) yields a fudgy, very moist cake. I recommend baking at this lower temperature and adding more time, as needed, to get the cakes cooked through. The longest I’ve had to bake these cakes is 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Because this recipe has a higher wet-to-dry ingredient ratio, the resulting cake is a bit crumbly and extremely fudgy and moist. I highly recommend that you frost the cakes after they have been chilled in the fridge – this makes it much easier! Not only will the cakes hold together better in general, but you also will have fewer crumbs getting into your frosting.
- MY TIMELINE: My plan of attack is usually to bake the cakes the day before I want to serve them, let them cool completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to assemble. I make the filling and the frosting on the day that I want to serve and then assemble while the cakes are still chilled. Once the cake is frosted, I recommend keeping it in the fridge. Take it out roughly 30 minutes before you want to serve it so it isn’t ice cold.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour (plus cooling time)
- Category: cakes
Hi There. I'm Molly. I'm a food-obsessed, self-taught cook and I can't wait to share my passion for all things culinary with you. My love for egg yolks is just the tip of the iceberg!
really nice dessert even after Saint Patrick’s Day, I’m in, thank you!