Chocolate Guinness cake, with Jameson ganache, and Bailey’s buttercream.
Rich chocolate cake infused with Guinness and espresso powder, soaked with Jameson, and layered with Jameson ganache and Bailey’s buttercream frosting, it’s boozy and delicious!
This recipe requires three different alcoholic beverages, which can be expensive, especially if you only buy them to make this cake. It is possible to omit the Jameson or Guinness to reduce cost and still have a delicious cake. Simply remove the Jameson from the recipe with no substitutions. For the Guinness, you can swap it out for hot water or coffee. On the other hand, the Bailey’s is a must and essential to the flavor.
There is also espresso powder in the cake and frosting. If this ingredient is not available to you, try using finely ground coffee in its place.
I like to use a 50/50 blend of regular and Dutch-processed cocoa powders. The mixture gives the cake a rich, well-balanced chocolate flavor. You can use either the regular or Dutch-processed for 100% of the recipe amount.
Irish Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 8 ounces Guinness beer
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 6 tbsp dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 3/4 cup greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla
Soak
- 1 tbsp Jameson Irish whiskey
Ganache
- 1/2 cup cream
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 1 tsp Jameson whiskey
Buttercream
- 1/3 cup 1 tbsp Bailey's Irish cream
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 1/4 cup butter softened 2 1/2 sticks
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line and oil 3 8-inch cake pans. Place the Guiness in a small pot and reduce to 1/2 cup. Keep hot until needed.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the eggs and oil together. Add the yogurt, vanilla, and buttermilk to the egg mixture. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and add the hot beer reduction. Stir until smooth. Divide the batter evenly between the 3 pans (1 3/4 cup batter per pan). Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely before adding ganache.
Soak
- Once the cakes have cooled, brush each layer with Jameson.
Ganache
- Bring the cream to a simmer. Remove it from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate. When the chocolate is smooth stir in the Jameson. Allow to cool to room temperature then divide the ganache between two layers of cake. Smooth over the top and place in the freezer or refrigerator until set.
Buttercream
- Combine the Bailey's and the espresso powder and set aside. Cream the butter until smooth. Add the salt and sugar and beat until the sugar is incorporated. Mix in the Bailey's mixture. Buttercream should be smooth and spreadable. Keep at room temperature until ready to use.
- Remove the cake layers from the refrigerator or freezer and spread 1/3 cup of frosting over the ganache. Place one frosted layer on a cake plate and top with the other frosted layer. Top with the unfrosted cake layer and gently press. Ice the cake with the remaining frosting. Cut and serve.
