Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Frosting

Depending on how you look at it, I am either late posting this recipe for St. Patrick's Day or really early for next year. I prefer to think I am early.

I found this recipe years ago whilst I was looking for St. Patrick’s Day treats. I don’t remember where….I own a LOT of cooking magazines and books….and I look on the computer way too much. I do try to keep track better now that Sue and I have the blog so I can give credit where it is due. That being said, this is a great recipe that I have made a few times and always gets rave reviews.

However, this is not the BEST chocolate cake recipe out there.

That credit would have to go to our secret family recipe.. I have never found a moister, better cake than that one. This cake is definitely in the top 5 though. The Guinness adds a certain unique flavor and the Bailey’s buttercream…well….I love Bailey’s so I am biased…is delicious.

It is perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day dessert or a family get together when you want to impress your guests or…..you know…..Tuesdays.

Guinness and Bailey’s Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 cup Irish stout beer (such as Guinness®)

1 cup butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

Bailey's Frosting

 3 cups icing sugar, or as needed

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

3 Tbsp Irish cream liqueur (such as Baileys®), or as needed

Ganache

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp butter at room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.

Pour the beer into a saucepan, add the butter, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.

Ooooh....Beer and butter!

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the cocoa powder until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and sour cream together until smooth with an electric mixer. Gradually whisk in the stout mixture to make a smooth, thick liquid.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour the stout mixture into the flour mixture, and gently combine with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cakes are set and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool in pans for 5 minutes before gently inverting the cakes onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Prepare Bailey's Frosting - Mix together the icing sugar, butter, and Irish cream liqueur until the mixture forms a smooth and spreadable frosting (add more sugar or liqueur as needed to create the desired consistency). Spread half the frosting on top of each cake.

Prepare ganache - Place the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to almost boiling in a small saucepan, and pour over the chocolate. Stir in the butter, and stir the mixture until the chocolate melts and the mixture is very smooth. Allow to cool until the mixture is pourable but not thin or overly runny, 10 to 15 minutes.

Assemble cake - Place one cake on a serving tray and frost the top of it.

(First layer.)

Stack a cake gently on top of the other, again frosting the top.

(Second layer.)

Place the last layer of cake on top and frost the top f the cake.

(Third layer.)

You can, if you have enough frosting leftover, frost the sides of the cake, if desired.
Carefully drizzle the chocolate mixture over the cake, allowing decorative drips to run down the sides.
(FYI - I usually don't have enough icing to frost the sides of the cake as I am pretty generous with the layers. You can either thin the layers OR make more frosting...your call!)
As you can see by the photo below, I need to work on my artistic drizzling skills... 

This is a sweet cake. I posted this recipe on Allrecipes a couple of years ago and one of the reviewers said it was too sweet. Really? Too sweet? I would have to disagree with that statement BUT, yes, it is sweet. It is a chocolate cake with frosting and ganache after all.

You can also make this into cupcakes if you prefer. You can hollow out a little hole in the cupcake after it has cooled and fill it with the Bailey's frosting and then drizzle with ganache. You will just have to adjust your cooking time accordingly.

FYI - You can also tint the icing green and make a shamrock like so....

We decorated it with our super easy, 3 ingredient, no bake Lime and Coconut Candies. (Recipe HERE) 

However you decorate it, it is still super yummy!