Not a traditional Gaelic recipe from times of yore, you understand, so what makes this cake Irish? The butter – real Irish butter and lots of it! This is a ‘pull on your comfy yoga pants and don’t try your jeans for at least week’ sort of cake! This is a ‘I’ve been good this week and I deserve a slice’ cake. You get the picture. This Irish Chocolate Cake is just how you want a chocolate cake to be… nice and chocolatey with real melted chocolate in the batter so it actually tastes like chocolate. The first one I made (don’t ask) didn’t have enough chocolate taste so it was back to the cake drawing board. Originally, the frosting was going to be a plain buttercream and then I thought, what could I do to make it more Irish that also complements the chocolate? Baileys Irish cream, of course! So I added a few tablespoons to the frosting and I’m so glad I did. As I was frosting the cake, the luscious smell of the Baileys kept wafting up to my nose and wow is it good! Make it kid friendly An alternative to adding Bailey’s to the frosting for kids, I have been seeing a non-alcoholic Bailey’s creamer. Check your stores. You can also substitute vanilla extract. The dark chocolate topping is really easy to achieve. Melted chocolate is spread onto parchment paper. The paper is then rolled up and refrigerated. When the chocolate is set, the paper is unrolled and the chocolate is broken into shard shavings This is a method I used on my Christmas yule log. St Patrick’s Day is just 1 week away and I’ve already brought you Irish beef and Guinness stew and colcannon so this cake completes the menu. I hope you enjoy one or all of these dishes. If you’ve make this cake or any other recipe, leave me a comment. I love to hear from my readers. Irish coffee milkshake shooters
