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Home » Baking & Desserts » Icing » Baileys Buttercream

6 May 2017

Baileys Buttercream

27.5K shares

I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!

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I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!It’s been at least a week since I last shared a buttercream recipe with you, so I thought it was about time I posted another one. This one is flavoured with one of my favourite things – Baileys Irish Cream 🙂

I’ve piped this buttercream onto some delicious Bailey’s cupcakes (recipe coming very soon) but it would also go brilliantly with other flavours such as vanilla, chocolate or coffee. As you know, I like to post my cupcakes and icing separately so you can mix-and-match the flavours to your heart’s content.

I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!

The addition of Bailey’s in these cupcakes gives you a really smooth buttercream which is perfect for piping. However it does need a little care and here are a few tips to help you get it just right…

  • Make sure your butter is really soft before you start. It’s so easy to forget to take the butter out of the fridge far enough in advance (I take mine out a couple of hours before I want to make this) and it’s tempting to beat it to soften it. However, unless it’s really soft it can be tricky to mix in the liquid and you’ll end up with lumpy buttercream.
  • Add your Baileys very gradually (I add 1 tsp at a time) and beat in each addition thoroughly before adding more.
  • Beat your buttercream on the lowest possible speed (or by hand) to avoid adding too many air bubbles.
  • If all the liquid and soft butter means your buttercream seems a little too soft for piping, pop it into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up (although not too long or it’ll be too stiff to pipe, check it every few minutes).

I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!

What You’ll Need

Before you start, make sure you have all of the equipment needed.

NOTE – These are affiliate links which means that if you purchase from Amazon after clicking on one the product links below I may earn a small commission. All of the products linked are ones I use in my kitchen.

  • Weighing Scales
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Knife – to cut the butter
  • Electric Mixer (or a bowl and hand mixer or wooden spoon)
  • Sieve
  • Piping Bags – if you’re planning on piping the cupcakes
  • Piping Nozzle – To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the pictures you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle.

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Baileys Buttercream

I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!
4.67 from 9 votes
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Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
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INGREDIENTS

Metric - US Cups/Ounces
  • 250 g unsalted butter - soft at room temperature
  • 500 g icing sugar
  • 2½ tbsp Baileys Irish Cream - you can use any of their other flavours too

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Cut the butter (250g) into cubes and then beat on a low speed until soft. Gradually add the icing sugar (500g - you add it gradually to stop it flying everywhere) and beat until fully combined.
  • Add the Baileys (2½ tbsp) a teaspoon at a time, beating in each addition before adding more.
  • Check the consistency of your buttercream. It should be soft and perfect for piping at this point. If it's a little too soft, pop it into the fridge to harden, checking it every few minutes.
  • Decorate your cakes.

NOTES

Makes enough for 12 cupcakes or for covering and filling a 20cm 2-layer round cake.
Take a look at my mix-and-match cupcake creator to choose which cupcake sponge you want to pipe this onto and take a look at all my other buttercream flavours while you're there too.
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and rating at the bottom of the page to let others know what you thought.
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 5mg | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Calcium: 5mg

Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.


I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!

Free From/Suitable For…

The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.

  • Suitable for Vegetarians
  • Gluten-Free
  • Egg-Free
  • Tree Nut-Free
  • Peanut-Free
  • Sesame-Free
  • Soya-Free
  • Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
  • Lupin-Free

I can now top my cakes with my favourite drink with this delicious, smooth Baileys buttercream!

27.5K shares

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Katy says

    December 10, 2022 at 7:26 am

    I am making a Christmas tree cake with chocolate sponge. The butter cream needs to be coloured green, could I do this with this baileys recipe and still hold its flavour and texture?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      January 15, 2023 at 12:28 am

      Yes but make sure to use a high quality gel colouring as a liquid colour will affect the texture and can easily affect the taste.

  2. Tania says

    October 03, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    5 stars
    I made this buttercream to cover your white chocolate cake and it was amazing!!! Everyone loved it. However I was wondering if you think it would work with gin instead of Baileys? I absolutely adore your recipes and they have given me a love of baking and exploring skills I didn’t know I had. Looking forward to your reply and thank you x

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 03, 2021 at 6:00 pm

      It may do, although I tried making a gin buttercream in the past (using the recipe for my Whiskey buttercream) and I found that the flavour of the gin got quite lost amongst the other ingredients and I couldn’t really taste it.

    • Tania says

      October 05, 2021 at 8:59 pm

      Thank you so much for your reply, I think I’ll stick to the baileys. Can I freeze this buttercream? I want to use it to cover your white chocolate sponge and freeze the entire cake… do you think it would work?

    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 10, 2021 at 3:23 pm

      That should be absolutely fine.

  3. Curls says

    June 26, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    5 stars
    This is the first time I have ever baked a cupcake. A friend made these for me years ago and they have haunted my dreams since 🙂 I wasn’t disappointed but I haven’t tackled the piping bag yet…..
    Thank you for the simple and helpful instructions. I’ll definitely be making these for anyone that shows even a remote amount of enthusiasm haha

    Reply
  4. Anna says

    March 16, 2021 at 7:56 pm

    I really like this recipe, I needed a sturdier frosting so I added a brick of cream cheese to the butter and added more Baileys, yum!
    When I did the orange Baileys I used homemade cranberry Orange sauce for the filling between the layers of vanilla cake. It’s a new Christmas favorite!

    Reply
  5. Tracy says

    January 17, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    I made these today and they was gorgeous. I always make your lemon drizzle buns they are to die for thanks for the recipes xxxx

    Reply
  6. ProudJamaican says

    September 06, 2020 at 5:17 am

    4 stars
    So I tried it and I loved it.

    The cream was smooth and with no lumps. The texture is great for piping. It marries well together.

    What I didn’t like tho is that I couldn’t taste the alcoholic flavor at all, just a good butter cream. Taste okay but was expecting a baileys rum cream flavor to go with the cake I was decorating.

    But over all great buttercream… the best i have made being new to this …. maybe i need to flavor with something else….

    Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  7. Dawn says

    May 30, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    3 stars
    Nice soft sponge, bit eggy and no baileys flavour really shows through. Meh

    Reply
  8. Clare Connolly says

    December 12, 2019 at 9:38 pm

    5 stars
    Best frosting I’ve ever made! Had already made basic chocolate cupcakes with my little one and just wanted to spice them up a bit for the adults. Definitely going in my recipe book now!!

    Reply
  9. Ellie M says

    February 02, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    5 stars
    I made these cupcakes for my Grandad’s 90th party- using Orange Truffle Bailey’s… A- mazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 07, 2019 at 2:49 pm

      I only tried the Orange Truffle flavour for this first time this Christmas and I loved it. I haven’t tried the cupcakes with it yet but now you’ve suggested it I really want to 🙂

  10. Frances says

    October 04, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    5 stars
    First time trying to make cupcakes ever! They came out really well and I will definitely be using your recipes if I ever need to make cup cakes. The only thing I found was the cup cakes needed about 25 mins to cool in my oven.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      October 06, 2018 at 7:06 pm

      Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed them. Annoying all ovens cook slightly differently so you may find some cooking times vary a little from the original recipe.

  11. Nadine says

    September 22, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    5 stars
    Wow made the Baileys cup cakes with Baileys buttercream went down a storm

    Reply
  12. Ally White says

    April 10, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    5 stars
    So just starting baking…new kitchen & shiny new Neff oven replacing a gas one of 27 years.. Googled coffee cupcake recipe & chose yours. They turned out okay but went down a storm with my family…. have done lemon drizzle cupcakes, mocha ones & a Victoria sponge since. Coffee cupcakes voted the best so cooked another 12 tonight….will be topping with Baileys butter icing ..nom nom. ❤️ Thanks for your help xx

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      April 11, 2018 at 10:08 am

      Thanks Ally, I’m glad you enjoyed them. I’ve not tried the coffee cupcakes with the Baileys buttercream before but now I want to!

  13. Charlotte Oates says

    March 19, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    Sounds like a great plan! Enjoy 🙂

    Reply
  14. Claudia says

    March 06, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    Boomarked!

    Using this recipe in between layers of dark chocolate cake and your coffee buttercream for the top layer decorations. Would you recommend cutting down the sugar in the baileys recipe as so much more will be used?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      March 07, 2018 at 10:59 am

      That’s really down to your personal taste. I haven’t tried it with less sugar but you should be fine to cut it down as far as equal amounts of butter and sugar. You’ll probably need to reduce the amount of Baileys too.

  15. Pao says

    February 21, 2018 at 11:37 am

    Do think I could make this frosting the night before, and ice the cupcakes in the morning for a brunch party?
    Thanks, these look delicious!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 21, 2018 at 2:46 pm

      I always like to make my buttercream just before I use it as it can become firm on the outside and won’t pipe as nicely.

  16. Carolyn says

    February 12, 2018 at 4:15 am

    Made this tonight…so good!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      February 12, 2018 at 4:56 pm

      I’m glad you enjoyed it, what did you use it on?

  17. Kate - gluten free alchemist says

    May 19, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    Now you have my attention! xx

    Reply
    • Charlotte Oates says

      May 20, 2017 at 9:23 pm

      🙂

  18. Fionnuala Three Sons Later says

    May 10, 2017 at 9:50 am

    Definitely giving this a go!

    Reply

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