Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate layer cake with ganache frosting and Baileys Buttercream frosting iped around the edges.

5 from 1 vote

Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream Frosting

Coffee and cocoa make for a rich chocolate cake. Then add chocolate ganache and Baileys Buttercream frosting to complete a cake lover's dream!

Prep Time45

Cook Time50

Total Time1 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Irish

Servings: servings

Calories: 787kcal

Author: Carolyn Hetke

Equipment

2 spring form pans 9" or 9" plus 7"

Ingredients

2 cups sugar 400 grams
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour 210 grams
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa 64 grams
2 tsps baking soda 12 grams
1 teaspoon baking powder 4 grams
1 teaspoon salt 6 grams
1 cup buttermilk 240 mL (see how to make your own buttermilk if necessary)
1 cup strong black coffee 240 mL
½ cup vegetable oil 120 mL
2 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 grams

Chocolate Ganache

2 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate bars 2 x 100 grams (not chocolate chips)
1 cup heavy whipping cream 240 mL
1 tablespoon sugar 12 grams -optional - See Note 2

Baileys Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 226 grams
½ teaspoon salt 3 grams
1 teaspoon vanilla 4 grams
3 ½ cups icing sugar 454 grams
2 tablespoon Baileys Irish Cream 30 grams
1 tablespoon whipping cream 15 grams

Instructions

Cake

Heat oven to 350°. Spray spring form pans with cooking spray. Add a parchment circle to the bottom of the pan for ease of removing cake. Make a parchment sleeve if necessary. Cut strips of parchment paper wide enough to rise about 3" above the rim of the pan. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray and use some spray to stick the ends of the parchment circle together.
Combine all dry ingredients (sugar through salt) in a large bowl and whisk to mix.
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl (eggs through vanilla) and beat on medium a couple of minutes to mix.
Beat the dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 40 to 50 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Time will depend on size of pans used. Start checking for doneness after 40 minutes.
See Note 1 if your cake is highly rounded on the top.
Cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake and remove from the pan to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache

Finely chop the chocolate (even grate it roughly if possible). Heat the cream gently in the microwave or over a medium heat on the stove. Be careful cream does't boil.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to set at least 3 minutes to soften. Gently stir the chocolate and cream to combine them and finish the melting.
Allow ganache to cool to room temperature. Once cooled beat the ganache with a whisk attachment preferably (or beaters) - about 4 minutes until it is light and fuffy.
Transfer cake layers to a serving plate. Frost the bottom layer with ganache, center the top layer and finish frosting the top and sides.

Baileys Buttercream

Beat the butter with a mixer a few minutes until it is light and smooth. Beat in the salt and vanilla.
Slowly beat in the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add the Baileys and whipping cream toward the end of the sugar addition. Beat on low until ingredients are evenly mixed. Check the consistency - if it is too thick add up to a Tablespoon of Baileys or cream. If it is too thin add up to another ½ cup of sugar.
Transfer frosting to a piping bag and pipe florettes around outside edges of the cake base, top and layer if layers are stepped.
You may have Baileys buttercream left over. You can refrigerate for a week or freeze it up to 3 months.

Notes

Note 1: If you want a flat top, take a sheet of parchment paper to cover the top. Immediately on removing the cake from the oven, press the top firmly with a flat plate or board (bigger than the cake dimensionss) to flatten the top.

Note 2: If you are using 70% or more cocoa content for the ganache you may want to dissolve a tablespoon of sugar in the hot cream to remove any bitterness.

Nutrition