Baileys Chocolate Cake with Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
This Baileys Chocolate Cake is simple, delicious, chocolatey and boozy with an even easier 2-ingredient sour cream chocolate frosting. Use my cake pan converter to scale the recipe for a different-size cake pan.
Preheat oven to 175C / 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 5-inch cake tin and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
Chop chocolate into small pieces and melt either in a double boiler or microwave. Let cool slightly.
Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together, set aside. Combine Baileys and milk in a small cup, set aside.
Using a handheld electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light, pale and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Add in the egg and beat for 1 minute on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down the sides again with a spatula. Add in the cooled, melted chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture into the batter and use a spatula to fold it in. Once there are no more visible streaks of dry ingredients, add 1/2 of the liquid mixture (Baileys+milk) and fold it in. Fold in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining liquid mixture and finally the last 1/3 of the flour mixture.
Scrape the batter into the cake tin and bake in the middle rack for 30 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Place the cake tin on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting and Decoration
Lay the pecan nuts in a single layer on a small tray and bake them in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Reserve 7 nice looking pecans and chop the rest into small pieces.
Chop chocolate into small pieces and melt ether in a double boiler or microwave. Let cool to room temperature. It should not be hot at all.
Whisk the room-temperature sour cream into the melted chocolate and use immediately.
Assembly
Split the cake into 2 layers. Spread 1/3 of the frosting on one of the cake layers and sprinkle with the chopped pecan nuts. Top with the second cake layer and frost with the remaining frosting. Press the nice looking pecans on top (6 around the cake and 1 in the middle).
The cake can now be stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve - do take it out from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving, so that the cake and frosting can soften slightly.
NOTES
As there is no added sugar in the frosting, it's best not to use a too bitter chocolate otherwise the frosting will be too bitter. Mix dark and milk chocolate if your dark chocolate is too intense.
The sour cream must be at room temperature and the melted chocolate cooled completely before they are whisked together, otherwise there will be lumps in the frosting.