Maison Cupcake
Home Cooking and Baking by Sarah Trivuncic
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
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!
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.
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.
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?
… I soak the tops of mine with Baileys – it’s utterly yum! x
That sounds good… I must try it.
I’ve become obsessed with baking cupcakes and I’m going to start my own business as soon as I move house. The most I’ve made are 90 in one go, and it was okay – I find that making the bases the day before, brushing them with syrup and storing them in my (closed) cupcake courier, then making and adding the buttercream the next day makes for the best results without nearly as much stress.
Boxes – I get mine from ebay, but there are shops online that specialise in cupcake boxes. I recently got a Cupcake Courier which is fantastic, although heavy when full, and you can’t carry cakes with very high domes. For smaller boxes (up to 6 in each box) use the Wilton ones as the holes are very deep, meaning they don’t move at all.
One question – I use syrups for all my cakes to soak the top, and I always try to include a relevant flavour (such as lemon or orange zest, limoncello, etc) but I really don’t know what to put in a syrup for a chocolate cake. For this, I might try adding Baileys, but worried it might go a bit strange as it’s cream based. Any tips?
Rachel – thanks for the box tips. I have never put syrup on mine so I don’t know about that. I agree Baileys might be bit weird due to the cream but cointreau or grand marnier would be good for choc orange cakes?
WOW Sarah what a feat! Pictures please. It sounds amazing. And the results look gorgeous. Well done you.