Monday 9 April 2012

Baileys and Guinness Layer Cake


I wanted to make a special cake for a friend's birthday so I decided to use my new checkerboard cake pan set that I bought from America. My friend is not really a dessert or cake person so I struggled to choose the perfect cake to celebrate. However, he does like a drink (or two) so I decided to make a boozy cake with Baileys and Guinness. The final cake was delicious and very boozy indeed (I was too liberal with the alcohol!) and everyone enjoyed it.

Unfortunately it was more a layer cake than a checkerboard cake. The cakes spread quite a lot during baking therefore obliterating the checkerboard effect. Plus the cake batters cooked at different times so the Baileys cake was slightly overdone and the Guinness cake was slightly under. Next time, I'll make a sponge recipe and add flavour and colour so that the cakes will cook evenly and hopefully I'll get the checkerboard effect as seen on the box. For now, let's just pretend that I intended to make a layer cake from the beginning :) 

I'm submitting this to AlphaBakes hosted by me and co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline_Makes. It's a monthly challenge where we bake from a random letter each month. This month, the letter is "B" which is perfect as I used a whole bottle of Baileys! Have you made your AlphaBakes entry yet? 




 I used a whole (small) bottle of Baileys! oops!



 checkerboard pan set 


 It has a nifty separator which you place on the cake tin then fill the cake batters in alternating colours 


 I had leftover batter so I made some cupcakes 

 As you can see the Baileys cake spread out a lot so you can't really see the ring effect with the Guinness cake 

 This layer is even worse! 

 Cover with frosting and add candles. 

 Layer cake as it was always meant to be ;) 


I made 2 recipes of each cake as 1 recipe was not quite enough - the checkerboard cake pans are quite large. I did have leftover batter to make 11 cupcakes (Recipes below are for 1 recipe)

For the Baileys cake

125g butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g plain flour (I used self raising flour which in hindsight was not a good idea!)
1 cup or more of Baileys (adjust to taste)


  • Cream the butter and sugar.
  • Add the eggs, sugar and flour.
  • Finally stir in the Baileys.
  • Alternatively, you can mix all the ingredients together in a mixer.


For the Guinness cake

I used Nigella's chocolate Guinness Cake recipe which is available on her website.

For the chocolate ganache

200g dark chocolate, chopped
250mls double cream
25g butter (optional)


  • Heat double cream in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil.
  • Remove from the heat and add chopped chocolate and butter and whisk until smooth.




35 comments:

  1. I love boozy cakes what a great idea!

    Nom! X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - I was told there was too much booze!! Tasted good though :)

      Delete
  2. Well, it may not have worked out as you intended but it still looks and sounds great! Love Baileys in cooking :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! At least it tasted good and the guests didn't know it was meant to be a checkerboard cake so were suitably impressed :)

      Delete
  3. That is awesome! Love the cake!

    www.cancerintheity.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amazing cake & sound really interesting with Bailey! What a great entry for AlphaBakes ! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm thinking of buying a checkerboard cake tin too. This Bailey cake looks very delicious and I think your friend must be very happy eating this cake :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We thoroughly enjoyed the cake :) I'm hoping to make a proper checkerboard cake as it looks so cool!

      Delete
  6. Hey not a checkerboard pattern but the layers look great. Love the booze in cake :D. Whole bottle now thats my kind of cake

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks... I'll just pretend it was always supposed to be a layer cake :) One of them said too much Baileys! oops!

      Delete
  7. Oh don't stress about it Ros :) it looks AMAZING and I've never seen such a big checker board cake hehe! I'm sure it taste perfectly ~ YUM!
    I already know what I'm making for this month's alphabakes just need 1 more ingredient hehe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cake was huge! Not helped by the extra rise in the cakes. Oh well will try again next time. Can't wait to see what you're making for AlphaBakes :)

      Delete
  8. Love the cake. Bailey's & Chocolate are terrific together..and checkerboard cakes are so cool looking. Maybe it didn't work out just right, but I bet it tasted great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, you are courageous - I'm still struggling just to bake a non-checkered, non-layered cake and here you are with this beauty! And a WHOLE bottle of Bailey's - that's creative... Whew!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! The whole bottle was a slight mis-step ;P I figured why not?

      Delete
  10. nice combination with the Guinness and Baileys - looks fab!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I bet this was a tasty cake. It looks beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks you can really taste the Baileys in the cake. The Guinness is more subtle but definitely there!

      Delete
  12. Ros, you're such a lovely friend to make them this! And I love the idea of Baileys and Guinness in one! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lorraine! I think I went a little overboard with the booze but it's a birthday after all :)

      Delete
  13. I bet your friend was super pleased with this cake! Bailey's overload or not! hehe, that's such a shame the pan didn't work out quite as it should have but I still think the layers look cool the way they turned out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eeveryone was impressed with the size of the cake! I think I know what to do now to get the layers so fingers crossed for next time.

      Delete
  14. Heh, I never knew such a cake tin existed... what a cool idea, and the cake looks wonderful.. I bet it tasted *amazing*, especially with all the Baileys, lol :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was really excited when I saw the tin.. one day I'll get it right :) The cake tasted really good if a little boozy :)

      Delete
  15. CAKE TIN envy! Alert alert!! I NOW need a cake tin like that Rod! GREAT looking cake too!
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Karen. When I saw the tin, I knew I had to buy it even if it meant hand carrying it all the way back.

      Delete
  16. It may not be quite a checkerboard, but it is stunning - the layers of colour look really dramatic. And the whole cake covered in chocolate ganache looks incredibly decedent - as indeed it is with all that booze in too - hope your friend was appreciative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everyone loved the cake especially the birthday boy so mission accomplished. I would like to try the checkerboard again and hopefully get it to look how it's supposed to look!

      Delete
  17. I have one of these tins but not yet used it - my friend and I sat trying to work it out as it came with no instructions. I love the idea of Baileys not so sure on the guiness though. as I am not a big fan but I expect it tastes different in cake form.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The guinness is quite subtle in the cake - I wouldn't drink it either but it's great in the cake. Maybe I'll wait for you to try the tin first as I'm sure you'll make it beautifully then I can get hints from you :)

      Delete

I've had to turn word verification back on as I've had a lot of problem with spam lately, Apologies! Please, please do leave a comment - I appreciate every one of them and will reply to all of them. Thanks!