Chocolate Stout Cake with Bailey's Irish Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

We are going to a St. Patrick's Day dinner and I volunteered to bring dessert so this year I made a Chocolate Stout Cake with Bailey's Irish Cream Cheese Frosting.  But now I think it's too pretty to eat!  I know it tastes delicious so this recipe is a keeper.  Like the title says, the frosting is made with Bailey's Irish Cream.

We bought these cute little mini bottles of Bailey's at the liquor store and the stout beer in the cake makes this a true St. Patrick's Day dessert through and through.  I had some cute little shamrock cake decorations in my cake decorating box so this was the perfect time to use them.

You could also use the green sprinkles for the top of the cake or you could also color some of the frosting green and spread it on top of the cake and then sprinkle the white chocolate curls over that.  I prefer the white on white look with just a subtle color of green.  I did use green frosting for the middle of the cake layers so when we cut it, you'll see green.  And I can't wait to cut it and dig in.


Yield:  10-12 servings


For the Cake
1-1/2 cups stout or dark beer, such as Guinness
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2-1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
white chocolate


For the Frosting


16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
4 Tbsp. Bailey Irish Cream
8 cups of powdered sugar


1.  Place the stout and butter in a large, heavy saucepan, and heat until the butter melts.

2.  Remove the pan from the heat, and add the cocoa powder.  Whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans, and line them with parchment paper circles.

4..  Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.


5.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sour cream. 

6.  Add the stout-cocoa mixture, mixing to combine.  

7.  Add the flour mixture and mix together at slow speed.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix again for 1 minute.

8.  Divide the batter equally among the prepared pans.  Bake the layers for 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes our clean.  Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of their pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely before frosting.

Frosting

1.  In a mixer bowl, blend together the cream cheese, butter, and Bailey's Irish Cream on medium speed until completely smooth and combined.
2.  Gradually add the powdered sugar on medium-low speed until it has all been added.  Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is smooth and thoroughly mixed.  

3.  Remove about a cup of frosting and tint with green food coloring for the middle of the cake.  

4.  Frost the top of the bottom layer first with the green frosting.

5.  Continue decorating as desired.  Make white chocolate curls (with a potato peeler) to scatter over the top.

6.  You can refrigerate the frosting, but it will need to be brought to room temperature before using.  This yields enough frosting to fill the cake and frost the outside, and do some basic decorations. 


*Note:  If the finished frosting is a little soft for your liking, you can add more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.