Easy Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting

This Easy Chocolate Guinness Cake with Baileys Irish Cream Frosting is a simple one-pan cake that's moist and chocolatey and ideal for St. Patrick's Day or Father's Day. Made with Guinness Beer and Baileys Irish Cream Frosting (without butter), it's rich and indulgent and so worth every calorie!

This cake boasts a rich chocolate flavor, inspired by my Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. and my No Bake Baileys Cheesecake. The frosting was inspired by my Chocolate frosting (without butter). It pairs well with this Reuben Soup and Garlic Bread.

🥘Ingredient Notes

You'll need the following ingredients for this delicious cake:

• Semi-sweet Baker's Chocolate: For the deepest chocolate flavor, use high-quality baking bars rather than chocolate chips. Chips contain stabilizers that can prevent them from melting into the perfectly smooth consistency needed for this batter.
• Guinness Stout: Use the traditional "Draught" or "Extra Stout." The malty, slightly bitter notes of the stout act like coffee-they deepen the chocolate flavor without making the cake taste like a pint of beer.
• Sour Cream: This is the secret to a tender crumb. It provides the acidity needed to react with the baking soda and adds a rich, moist texture that lasts for days.
• Unsalted butter. I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt in my recipes. Different brands of salted butter vary in terms of how much salt they contain.

And for the Chocolate Irish Cream frosting, you'll need:

Chocolate Baileys Irish Cream Frosting ingredients:

• Vegetable Shortening (Crisco): This recipe uses shortening instead of butter for the frosting. This creates a "bakery-style" texture that is much more stable and allows the flavor of the Baileys to shine through without being masked by butter.
• Dream Whip Powder: This is a "The Lazy Way" professional secret! It makes the Irish cream frosting light, airy, and incredibly stable.
• Baileys Irish Cream: This provides that signature creamy, boozy kick. You can use the original flavor or experiment with Salted Caramel or Vanilla Cinnamon Baileys for a unique twist.

*Please see recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities

📖Variations & Substitutions

• Beer - you can use another type of Guinness beer such as a lager or blonde
• Dream Whip - you can use a different brand of whipped cream powder
• Irish Cream - you can use another brand of Irish cream or homemade Irish cream
• Butter - you can use salted butter and skip the salt in the recipe
• Milk - you can use 2% or whole milk instead of 1%
• Shape - you can make this into a layer cake by using 2 8-inch round pans
• Non-alcoholic - you can use non-alcoholic beer and Irish Cream coffee creamer instead of liqueur
• Cupcakes -Pour the batter into lined cupcake tins and bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes.

🔪Step-by-Step: How to Make Guinness Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Baileys Frosting

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.

Combine chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe medium bowl and melt in the microwave at ½ power for about 2 minutes, remove and stir after 1 minute, then in 30-second intervals until melted

Alternatively, you can melt it in a large saucepan over low heat

Gradually add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and beat well.

Add in beer and beat for 20 more seconds

Blend in the remaining wet ingredients (eggs, sour cream, and vanilla), and beat 30 seconds at medium speed.

Grease a 9X13 pan (I use Cake Release) or you can use non-stick cooking spray to prevent it from sticking.

Pour wet batter into greased pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees/176 degrees C for 40-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Meanwhile make the Irish Cream Frosting:

Add the shortening and mix while slowly adding powdered sugar.

Then add the cocoa, Irish Cream, and vanilla extract.

Then add the milk, a little at a time, until you get a smooth texture and the right consistency. * If you want a thicker consistency, use less milk.

Once the cake is cool, you can frost the cooled cake right in the pan, using a butter knife to make swirls

Add rainbow sprinkles (non- pareils or jimmies)

Slice into 12 pieces with a serrated knife

🥗 What to serve with Guinness Cake with Baileys Frosting

Shepherd's Pie with Ground Turkey or a Turkey Reuben Panini pairs well with Guinness Chocolate Cake with Irish Cream Frosting. For drinks, try this Green Grasshopper Mocktail (shown)!

🌡️Storage

Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. If you're just storing it overnight, it can be covered in plastic wrap.

It can be frozen (frosted) for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

👪 Serving Size

This recipe makes 12 servings. But the pieces can be cut smaller, and you can get 15-20 pieces. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

❔ Recipe FAQ's