For Saint Patrick's Day I decided to make an Irish Cream cake. I love Bailey's, so that combined with cake sounded like a win win to me! I found a recipe that had great reviews so I decided to be ambitious and try it, even though it is much more complicated than anything I've tried before. There are a lot of steps, so I broke up the process into two days.
First I made the cakes:
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups white sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add vanilla extract, beating until blended.
Combine flour and soda; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cakepans.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. (I cooled them overnight).
Then I made the butterscotch filling:
Ingredients
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Stir together brown sugar and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and mixture is blended. Stir in 1/2 cup milk until blended.
Whisk together remaining milk, flour, and salt; stir into brown sugar mixture, and cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat 5 minutes or until thickened. Gradually add eggs, and cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool. Stir in pecans and vanilla.
Then I made the cream cheese frosting:
Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, unsifted
Preparation
Beat first 3 ingredients with an electric mixer until creamy. Add confectioners sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until smooth.
Then I assembled the cake:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
3 cakes
2 cups butterscotch filling
3 cups cream cheese frosting
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
14 pecan halves, toasted (I didn't use these)
Preparation:
Brush cake layers evenly with liqueur. Spread half of Butterscotch Filling between each cake layer; spread Cream Cheese Frosting on top and sides of cake. Gently press chopped pecans onto sides of cake; arrange pecan halves on top (I made a shamrock out of green colored frosting instead of using these pecan halves).
...and it's a hit!!
We cut the cake and it is de-lic-ious! It is moist, and has the perfect amount of Irish Cream and sugary sweetness. The cake cut well and presented nicely. I definitely recommend making this cake. Even though it was a lot of work it was totally worth it!!
Whoa...I have a slight buzz ;)
ReplyDeleteAaha-mazing! Fatastic cake . . . great flavor combinations - layers of buterscotch, vanilla, Baileys. Cake is tender but plenty sturdy to handle filing and frosting. Great job Lisa! and major cudos for tackling a complicated recipe!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Lisa! Yummy! I am not a huge butterscotch fan, but this has just a hint of the butterscotch. There is just a hint of each of the flavors that all works together so well. I loved the shamrock.
ReplyDeleteThe cake was OH-SO-YUMMY! It was so moist and delicious. Sometimes, I am not a fan of nuts in my dessert but this was very good. I love the Baileys too. Desserts make me happy, so I am very happy this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa!
Anabel Newkirk