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Home Cooking and Baking by Sarah Trivuncic

Baileys Cupcakes with Chocolate Baileys Buttercream (Easy Recipe)

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Everyone loves Baileys, and these easy Baileys cupcakes with chocolate Baileys buttercream are a guaranteed hit at any cake-fuelled gathering – from a cosy girls’ night in to a weekend bake. They taste so delicious you will want to eat them all year round – not just for St Patrick’s Day parties!

Updated 2026

Maison Cupcake - Baileys Cupcakes in dark brown cases, chocolate buttercream swirls with choc chips on light brown patterned background
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Delicious Baileys Cupcakes with Chocolate Baileys Buttercream Swirls and Choc Chips

 

Easy Baileys Cupcakes Recipe

These Baileys Cupcakes are perfect for chocolate lovers and fans of the classic Irish cream liqueur. My recipe combines soft, moist sponge with a rich chocolate Baileys buttercream, giving each bite an unmistakeable indulgent Baileys flavour.

For the best results, I recommend using a good quality chocolate – it can be dark or milk chocolate – depending how rich you like the flavour. You can also add extra cocoa powder to the frosting to deepen the chocolate flavour – too much will make it thicker to pipe – although this won’t matter if you choose to spread the buttercream freeform-style with a knife.

Whether you’re baking these cupcakes for a birthday party or a weekend treat, or even a St Patrick’s Day themed party, these Baileys cupcakes are sure to impress. They are as easy to make as they are divine to eat!

The story behind my Baileys Cupcakes

I first baked these Baileys Cupcakes for a friend’s wedding. When planning the cupcake flavours, the bride insisted Baileys must feature somewhere. As a cream liqueur, Baileys pairs naturally with chocolate. I spent a marathon day baking, dashing across town for baking supplies and decorating over 100 cupcakes by hand.

The experience was stressy but rewarding. And it reminded me: Baileys Cupcakes are an iconic flavour that will please everyone. It wasn’t an Irish wedding but I knew chocolate Baileys Cupcakes would be one of the memorable flavours on the cupcake stand. Even though this post isn’t about weddings, I hope this backstory illustrates how crowd-pleasing these cupcakes are – from casual home baking to big celebrations.

What Makes Baileys Cupcakes Popular?

I think a few factors are at play making Baileys Cupcakes a flavour everyone will love.

Rich Indulgent Flavour: Baileys Irish Cream liqueur is a popular drink with a distinctive flavour. The creaminess goes hand in hand with smooth rich chocolate.

Handy for home bakers: Beating Baileys liqueur into cupcake frosting is easy; you may have a bottle in the drinks cupboard already and it will keep for months if you’re only just opening it.

Baileys Feels A Bit Naughty: Go on, admit it – Baileys is that cheeky drink you opt for at the end of a fun evening. You know you shouldn’t, but it seems few can resist an iced tumbler of the creamy drink with boozy flavour. These Baileys Cupcakes give you a way to enjoy the Baileys flavour earlier in the day! Although the amount of liqueur per cupcake will be low, (less than a teaspoon’s worth), do be mindful Baileys does contain alcohol.

My first version of the Baileys Cupcakes with white sugarpaste flowers for a wedding
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The version with cute little flowers I made for the wedding!

 

Tips Making Baileys Cupcakes

Adjusting the Baileys flavour: Although you can increase or decrease the amount of liqueur in the buttercream, beware that too much will make your frosting too runny. Another way to intensify the flavour would be to use Chocolate Baileys Liqueur – since the drink is now sold in various flavours. And if you’re not sticking to the official version, Aldi sells 5-6 flavours.

Piping Baileys Buttercream: Use a large star nozzle to get the swirled effect. If you don’t have a nozzle or piping bag, fear not – you can slather on frosting with a table knife for a more rustic effect. Add sprinkles of your choice.

Storing Baileys Cupcakes: The cakes will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to a month.

Keep the cupcake cases looking their best: If you freeze the cupcakes, be mindful that the paper cases may go floppy. One way to disguise this is to pop them into an extra clean case before serving.

For an extra-indulgent Baileys touch: Instead of plain chocolate chips, why not add one of these Baileys Truffles on top of each cupcake?

Print Recipe
4.50 from 2 votes

Bailey’s Cupcakes with Chocolate Bailey’s Buttercream Icing

You will also need: 12 hole muffin tins and 24 paper cases - or more smaller tins and greater number of paper cases according to size desired (see above). You can also use a piping bag (mine are disposable one with the ends snipped off) but it's equally fine to spread the buttercream on the bases by hand.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Servings: 24 large muffin size cakes or 36 standard bun size or 48 mini muffin size
Author: Sarah Trivuncic

Ingredients

  • for the Baileys cupcakes
  • 275 g self raising flour
  • 275 g caster sugar (superfine baking sugar)
  • 275 g softened butter
  • 25 g cocoa powder sieved
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp Baileys or other Irish cream liqueur
  • for the Baileys buttercream
  • 750 g icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
  • 25 g cocoa powder sieved
  • 250 g softened butter
  • 100 ml Bailey's or other Irish cream liqueur
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 190c or gas mark 5. Simply quickly blitz all ingredients for the cupcake bases except the Bailey's together in the food processor. Drizzle the Bailey's in last through the funnel before pulsing a few times to a smooth batter. Do not over mix.
  • Spoon the batter into large muffin cases in a 12 hole muffin tray so that they are around two thirds full. Bake for around 15-18 minutes. For 12 large cupcakes I set the timer for 12 minutes, turn them around on the shelf and leave for another 6 minutes. For standard cupcake size and mini muffin size I set the timer for 10 minutes, turn around then give them a further couple of minutes until done.
  • The centres may erupt like little volcanoes but that’s ok, you can lop off these peaks if you want to ice them flat or pipe icing in a spiral to emphasis their shape!
  • When the cakes are done, a cocktail stick will just about come out dry. With practice you get the confidence to know how early this is, leaving them even a couple of minutes beyond this point will make your sponge too dry.
  • Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before covering with icing.
  • For the buttercream, beat the softened butter and Bailey's with an electric hand mixer or free standing mixer until very soft and fluffy. Sift on the icing sugar and cocoa several table spoons at a time and incorporate. The more you do at once the more it gets wafted round the kitchen covering everything so it’s best to go slow. When all the icing sugar is mixed in, add another tablespoon of milk if you think it’s still too stiff. Beat the buttercream with the mixer for several minutes, it will go fluffier and lighter. Remember that although it will be soft and squidgy now, the surface of the buttercream will go harder when it’s had a couple of hours to dry out on the surface of a cake.
  • Paste your buttercream over the cupcake bases using a small palette knife or pipe it onto them in spirals. Decorate with chocolate curls and fondant flowers or using the decorations of your choice.

Notes

You can bake the cakes at 180c or gas mark 4 for slightly longer if you wish. This may help avoid the volcanic peaks.
Making buttercream in the food processor instead of with an electric hand mixer stops your kitchen getting covered in a cloud of icing sugar.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I am so ready to spend a day in your kitchen watching you bake! These cupcakes are a thing of beauty and WOW the flavor! I want to try them. Great job, Sarah, you are now a pro! I also have to say that writing under pressure makes me write better but baking under pressure? Disaster! Not a pretty sight and be warned you must wear earplugs if you are within shouting distance of my kitchen.

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  3. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stayed up all night making cakes for my children’s birthdays so I can’t imagine the stress for a wedding…gulp!
    My mouth is watering now! 🙂

    Reply

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