Like every home cook, I have good days and bad days. Today wasn’t one of the good days. Today was one of the exceptional days. I am really proud of this cake. It’s dense and moist, but not too heavy; luxuriously rich, but not too sweet. The filling has just the right touch of Baileys, which complements rather than competes with the chocolate. The frosting has the tangy flavor of cream cheese but none of its heaviness, providing the perfect foil for the rest of the cake, in terms of texture, color, and flavor.

Chocolate Birthday Baileys Surprise Cake packs a couple of fun surprises: first, when you cut through the whiter-than-white exterior to reveal a black-as-midnight, four-layer interior. Secondly when you encounter the unexpected depth of profoundly dark chocolate balanced against vanilla cream and Baileys. These things, plus its splashy appearance, make it an excellent way to celebrate your friend Chris’ birthday or any equally festive occasion.

What you need to make 1 nine-inch, four-layer cake, serving at least 16:

DARKER-THAN-BLACK^® PROFOUNDLY CHOCOLATE CAKE

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pans
8.25 oz. bread flour (1 1/2 cups)
6.75 oz. cake flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 lb. 5 oz. sugar (3 cups)
4.75 oz. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (1 1/2 cups)
1 Tbs baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 tsp coarse salt
4 large eggs (7 oz. – supplement with mayo if necessary)
12.75 oz. low-fat buttermilk (1 1/2 cups)
12 oz. warm water (1 1/2 cups)
4.25 oz. safflower oil (1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs)
2 tsp hand-made, man-made, ideologically-superior vanilla extract

FOR THE BAILEYS MOCHA FILLING

5 oz. butter (10 Tbs), melted
2 oz. Dutch process cocoa (~1/2 cup + 3 Tbs)
.75 oz. natural cocoa (~3 Tbs)
15 oz. powdered sugar (3 3/4 cups)
~1.7 oz. Baileys (one 50-ml mini bottle)
1 single-shot of espresso
1 tsp vanilla
Milk, for thinning (optional)

FOR THE VERY-SOFT™ TRIPLE CREAM FROSTING

9 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
4.25 oz. sour cream (at room temperature, 1/2 cup)
4 oz. heavy cream (about 1/2 cup)
1 scant Tbs vanilla
9 oz. confectioners’ sugar (2 1/4 cups), more may be needed
Raspberry glaze for garnish, optional

How to do it:

MAKE THE CAKE:

1. Soak two pre-fitted magic strips in cold water as you butter and flour two 9-inch, high-sided round cake pans (9 x 2).
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Beat flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low, 30 seconds.
4. Add remaining ingredients (measured together into a separate bowl) and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.
5. MEANWHILE, squeeze strips to remove excess water, and slip onto the pans with the sharp end of the pin facing up and into the rim of the pan.
6. Divide batter among pans: about 2 lbs 6 oz. batter per pan.
7. Place cakes in oven.
8. Bake, rotating cakes half-way through, until a toothpick comes out clean (maybe slightly oily), about 37 minutes – start testing after 35. When they’re nearly done, they’ll start to pull away from the side of the pan a little, and the tops will look glossy and oddly volcanic (but that will be obscured by the frosting).
9. Cool in pans on racks until pans are cool enough to be handled, 15-20 minutes.
10. Turn out cakes onto racks; cool completely.

Cake Notes: I don’t stock all purpose flour. I bake a lot of bread, and I bake a lot of cakes, so those are the flours I stock. When I want all purpose flour, I mix the two, varying the proportions according to how delicate I want the end result to be. If you stock AP, use three cups of that. I prefer a heavily Dutched black cocoa reminiscent of an Oreo, such as Hershey’s Special Dark. Dutch and natural cocoa aren’t necessarily interchangeable in this recipe.

MAKE THE FILLING:

1. Dissolve the cocoa in the butter.
2. Pour the Baileys into a measuring cup. Add espresso to bring it up to the 1/3-cup mark.
3. Beat the sugar into the cocoa in three additions, alternating it with the Baileys mixture. Beat each addition until there are no visible lumps.
4. Beat in the vanilla. If the filling needs to be thinned out, add more espresso (or milk) in very small amounts.

Once the cakes are fully cooled, level one of them. The other will beget the top layer. Next, split both cakes to form four even layers. Set the top layer aside. Lay two of the remaining layers back into the (cleaned and dried) pans in which they were baked and place the third one on a cutting board. Divide the filling between these three layers, spreading it right to the edge of the layer. Stack the layer on the cutting board onto one of those in the pans. Retrieve the top layer and stack it onto the layer in the other pan. Shove both pans into the fridge for an hour.

Filling Notes: I wanted to distinguish the filling from the cake without pitting them against one another, so I lightened the dark-chocolate base with a bit of natural cocoa. (Dutch and natural cocoa are interchangeable in this part of the recipe.) Feel free to experiment with the proportions. If you buy your Baileys by the fifth, you can eyeball the specified amount by filling a 1/3-cup measure about 3/4 of the way.

MAKE THE FROSTING:

1. Beat cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on med-high.
2. Beat in sour cream until fully incorporated, about 15 seconds on medium.
3. Beat in half of the cream and all of the vanilla until the mixture appears smooth and homogenized, about 1 minute on medium.
4. Beat in sugar, one cup at a time, scraping the sides after each addition.
5. Beat in remaining cream only if/as nessary, to achieve a light, spreadable texture. Or, if it needs stiffening up, add more sugar.

Retrieve the cakes from the fridge. The filling should be well set. Wash your hands, rinse them under cold water, and then get them impeccably dry. Invert the bottom layer onto your dominant hand, shake it loose from the pan, and reinvert it onto a cake plate. If the filling was fully set, very little of it should’ve stuck to your hand. Rinse and dry your hand, remove the other layers from their pan, and place them on top the bottom layers. Frost cake. (Garnish.) Keep refrigerated. It’s good cold, but its best if allowed to come to room temperature before serving.

Frosting Notes: this is a very wet frosting. It needs only to be thick enough to adhere to the cake and hold its shape without drooping. Although it will set up in the fridge, it will stay soft even when refrigerated, so be careful when handling the finished cake.

Chocolate Birthday Baileys Surprise Cake with Triple Cream Frosting

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Clicking on images will enlarge them. This content was not solicited by Baileys or Hershey, nor written in exchange for anything. You can use this cake to celebrate any friend’s birthday, even if their name isn’t Chris.

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