Baileys: Best Lucky Charm Ever

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The vast majority of us have spent the last few days with absolutely no idea what time it is, just experiencing the vague notion that the current time can’t be the right time, can it? Nothing like daylight savings time to absolutely wreck your circadian rhythm if you’re over the age of well, 20. I’ve decided that the only benefit to never knowing what time it is is that this means it’s never the wrong time for cake. Is it breakfast or is it 12:30? No clue, have cake. I am getting ready for dinner or bed? No clue, have cake. Will this feeling of existential dread ever end? No clue, have cake. I feel like DST happens around St. Patrick’s Day every year so that when the holiday finally rolls around, we’re all a bit delirious and totally ready for stiff drinks. Is this big liquor’s way of capitalizing on the holiday like the chocolate and flower industries do for Valentines? I could be mistaken, but I do know for certain a stiff drink pairs really well with a boozy cake…

I’ve made many a Baileys chocolate cake, but this year, I wanted to try making a Baileys yellow cake for St. Patrick’s Day. Good news, everyone: it’s magically delicious! I’ve decided Baileys can do no wrong; it makes every baked good so soft, and it has such a smooth aftertaste that you no longer care how annoying daylight savings time is because you’ve finally found some delicious, unrelenting happiness. Bonus points? It’s only 264 calories a slice, so you can totally pair it with a Guinness or, my personal favorite, more Baileys.

I’m actually running dangerously low on baking Baileys this month, and I’d hate to have to tap into the drinking reserves. To make this incredibly delish yellow cake, you need:

• 1 box of gluten free yellow cake mix (or regular yellow cake mix if not gluten free)
• 3 eggs
• 83 grams (1/3 cup) unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup skim or fat free milk
• 1/2 cup Baileys Deliciously Light (or regular, or another fun flavor like salted caramel)

Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare three 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and bake even strips. Add all cake ingredients into a stand mixer, blending on low for one minute before switching to medium high for two minutes. Pour batter evenly into each pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. A toothpick should come out of the center of the cake clean. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

What do we top a Baileys yellow cake with? More Baileys, of course. To make the frosting, you’ll need:

• 225 grams (8 ounces) of 1/3 the fat cream cheese, softened
• 226 grams (1 cup) of fat free Greek yogurt, strained overnight to remove moisture
• 16 ounces (4 cups) Lakanto powdered monkfruit or regular powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp citric acid (helps balance out the sweetness)
• 1-2 TBS Baileys
• This adorable cake topper
• These amazing sprinkles
• Kelly green or leaf green gel dye
• A few tablespoons of Cool Whip

Whip the cream cheese and yogurt with a paddle attachment in your stand mixer until fluffy, about three minutes. Add in half the monkfruit, citric acid, one tablespoon of Baileys, and the extract. Blend well, then scrape the bowl before adding the remaining monkfruit, green gel dye, and one more tablespoon of Baileys. To assemble, you just need to slather a layer of buttercream on top of a cooled cake layer, then add another layer (I always place them face down so the smooth surface on the bottom of the cake is now on top), then place the final layer on top. Then coat the whole cake in frosting.

This truly could be none more green. At this point, I chilled my cake in the freezer for 30 minutes before smoothing out any lumps or bumps with a plain Viva paper towel. Then I prepared to make a giant, sprinkle-laden mess in my kitchen.

I will not stop with festive holiday puns, so you’re just going to have to get clover it. I like to take a large baking sheet with a rim, placing my cake right in the middle. Then I pour some sprinkles into a bowl so that it is easy for me to grab a handful. Then I just take said handful and pour it carefully on the bottom of the cake to create a sprinkle border, pressing in gently to adhere the sprinkles.

Then, it is easy to pour the sprinkles that completely missed the cake and are just partying together all over the baking sheet back into the bowl, and the bowl back into the bag the sprinkles came in. Because in this house, no sprinkle gets left behind. I absolutely love the various sizes, matte sprinkles, shiny sprinkles, and shapes in this mix. I am what is referred to in the baking community (or should be) a “sprinkle snob.” Your traditional nonpareils are too basic for me.

I wanted to do a gold drip on top of this cake, but I ran out of gold luster, so instead I just sadly relented while placing the happiest, smiley-est cake topper on top of my cake. It mocked me so, but I’m a clover not a fighter, so I let it smugly smile at me with a look that said, “We would have remembered to order more luster dust in February, but that’s okay.”

I simply plopped a few tablespoons of Cool Whip into a piping bag with a #12 round tip and piped little mounds of clouds in front, on the side, and behind the topper to cover up any gaps. And voilà, you’ve got a very boozy cake that deceptively looks safe for children but totally is not. I just now realized this, but you can 100% clean that rainbow cake topper off to use for a less-boozy, child-appropriate cake after one of the biggest drinking holidays has passed. I am not a parent, but I do imagine the joy of not having to share cake with your children because it’s full of alcohol is one of those rare moments that makes parenting worth it?

Look, the bottom line is this cake is absolutely perfect for St. Patrick’s Day parties…it simply shamrocks (I know, such a clover girl I am). I have yet to meet a baked good that wasn’t improved with the addition of Baileys, that’s all I’m saying. The citric acid in the frosting keeps it from being overly sweet and really allows the Baileys flavor to take center stage. And that yellow cake? Well, we may have painted her green, but danged it she doesn’t taste like the ultimate, buttery, soft yellow sponge to ever exist. Get the paddy started with this cake to properly celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day this week! Trust me, your friends will 100% put up with every terrible holiday pun you can think of if you offer them a slice of boozy cake so good, you lose all concept of time (or is that the daylight savings kicking in again?). Til next time, my fellow eaters!

Recipe and Instructions