Irish Coffee Cake with Baileys

This Irish coffee cake is an absolute doddle to make. It has an intense coffee flavour, a delightfully soft texture and it's topped with pillowy whipped cream spiked with Irish cream liqueur. Expect to fall deeply in love with this Baileys coffee cake.

Alternatively, up the ante and go for showstopping white chocolate Baileys cake.

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What a treat this Irish coffee cake topped with Baileys cream is. The coffee sponge cake is robustly flavoured and the creamy topping is the perfect complement to this. They are, in fact, sweet partners in crime.

If you are partial to either coffee or Baileys (or both), then this Baileys coffee cake is going to make your heart sing. Try a slice alongside an Irish hot chocolate, Irish latte or an Irish mocha latte for an undeniably indulgent treat.

Why you should make this Baileys coffee cake

This Irish coffee cake has been a long time in the making and has gone through significant iterations of sampling amongst my network of eager taste-testers. This final version has so many alluring attributes:

• It's an easy one bowl recipe - so there's minimal washing up
• The coffee flavour is pronounced
• And the colour is fantastic
• The sponge is soft and velvety
• It's really easy to decorate
• The creamy topping is not too sweet
• And of course, it's spiked with Baileys Irish cream

This decidedly grown-up Irish coffee cake might have an understated appearance but it's impressive on the tastebuds. My taste testers agree!

Ingredients notes

I opted to use light brown muscovado sugar to lend both colour and flavour to this Irish coffee cake but also to help produce a sponge cake with a sensational texture. It holds together well and it has a delicious crumb with a soft and bouncy consistency.

A little Soured cream also helps deliver the perfect texture to this coffee sponge cake too. Greek yoghurt could alternatively be used in its place.

As for the coffee, it has to be instant coffee granules (I used Gold Blend) for this recipe. I've used 4 tablespoons, dissolved in just 40ml of very hot water. It's a lot of coffee, but this is the key to delivering the intense flavour and colour in this Irish coffee cake.

Baileys is always my top choice of Irish cream liqueur. In my opinion, it cannot be rivalled in terms of flavour. That bundle of notes comprising whisky, chocolate and vanilla is spot on and the liqueur is not overly sweet. It works a treat in the cream on top of this Baileys coffee cake.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Dissolve the coffee granules in very hot water and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together using electric beaters, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition (don't worry if the mixture curdles).
3. Mix in the soured cream, vanilla extract and coffee.
4. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold in.
5. Spoon into a baking tin and cook for around 35 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean when poked into the centre.
6. Cool in the tin then remove and peal off the baking parchment.
7. Put the cream and Baileys into a bowl. Sieve the icing sugar in and then beat until the cream reaches soft peaks.
8. Spread the cream over the top of the cake and scatter grated chocolate over it.

Expert tips

This Baileys Irish coffee cake is very quick and easy to make. Regardless, here are a few tips to help you get the best out of this recipe:

• Always use digital scales when baking - they give far more accurate results than usings cups or scales with weights.
• Ensure your oven is preheated to the correct temperature before baking commences. Putting a cake into an oven that is still heating up will lead to a less superior bake.
• Pay attention to the size of the baking tin. This recipe calls for a deep 7-inch (18cm) circular tin. Using a smaller/ larger tin will affect the depth of the cake and the cooking times.
• Ensure that you use very hot water to dissolve the coffee granules - from a kettle that has recently boiled. Warm water won't quite dissolve it fully. Boil the kettle and let it stand for 5 minutes before using the water to dissolve the coffee.
• Keep stirring the granules in the water until dissolved. It may take a minute - there's a lot of coffee involved.
• Diehard coffee fans should use the full amount of coffee specified in the recipe card.
• But those looking for a slightly more subtle coffee taste should dissolve 3 tablespoons of coffee in 2 tablespoons hot water.

Variation

Early renditions of this Irish coffee cake involved whisky rather than Baileys. I was keen to replicate an actual Irish coffee as closely as I could.

However, multiple taste testings later I concluded that it was better to forego the whisky in the sponge cake and go with a just buzz of Baileys in the topping to provide an Irish edge to this cake.

If you do, however, want to add a hit of alcohol to the coffee sponge cake then try mixing in 1 tablespoon of whisky or 2 tablespoons of Baileys. Any more and the alcohol will dominate the coffee flavour in the cake - especially if whisky is used.

Stick with the Baileys in the creamy topping though - whisky would be too harsh here.

More recipes including Baileys Irish cream

If you have tried this Baileys Irish coffee cake recipe then please give it a rating or comment. I love to hear how you get along with my creations.