How to make 3-ingredient Baileys buttercream

You had us at Baileys.

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Remember those overly sweet cakes from your childhood? The ones with a rock-hard frosting in garish colours that never tasted as good as you hoped? At birthday parties and school fetes, these were such an unfortunate staple of my youth that I gave up frosting for years afterwards. Until I discovered this Baileys melting moments recipe – but more specifically, the Baileys buttercream hidden inside.

Buttercream is a classic frosting used in a lot of dessert recipes (think cakes and cupcakes), but this version is definitely one for the adults only. Thanks to the use of everyone’s favourite Irish liqueur, it’s a fresh new take on a classic that will make you rethink how you use buttercream. 

An adults-only buttercream recipe

Made from just three ingredients (yes, three!), it only takes about 5 minutes to whip this frosting together. All you need is butter, some icing sugar and a splash of Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur. Place all your ingredients in a bowl, take your electric beaters and beat until the mixture is smooth, pale and creamy… and that’s basically it.

Digital Food Director Amira Georgy says of this recipe: “I love this buttercream as it’s no fuss. You don’t have to add the sugar gradually like other buttercream recipes, you simply throw it all in an electric mixer and beat away. Plus, it has a slight chocolatey flavour thanks to the delicious Baileys.”

Because there’s alcohol in the mixture, this is a frosting the littles ones will have to give a miss. However if you’re not too keen on anything boozy but still want that creamy taste, there are alcohol-free versions of Irish cream you can use in its place. 

See how we make it here:

How do I use Baileys buttercream?

Once you’ve made your frosting, let your creative mind run wild! It’s incredibly versatile, so can be used to decorate all kinds of baked treats, using various tools. A piping bag, nozzle, cake turntable, spatula or icing smoother will help to decorate your creations and to assist you in handling the buttercream with ease. 

Some of my favourites ways to use Baileys buttercream include:

• Upping the ante and spreading it over this Baileys Irish cream coffee cake
• Using it as a classic frosting over butter cakes, sponge cakes and cupcakes. Amira says: “If you use it for cupcakes, you’ll need to triple the recipe to cover 12 cupcakes”. 
• Piping it into melting moments or using it “as a filling for homemade macarons”, suggests Amira.

Get our Baileys buttercream recipe.

Other Baileys desserts

• Mini Baileys Basque cheesecakes
• Quick mini Baileys and salted choc-caramel tarts
• Baileys cannoli

Originally published as How to make 3-ingredient Baileys buttercream