An Adults-Only Way to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
In my experience, you fall into one of two camps when it comes to cake pops: Love ’em in an obsessive way, because what’s better than cake mixed with extra frosting and then coated in chocolate? Or leave ’em, because soggy cake on a stick just doesn’t do it for you.
Based on my unabashed love of frosting, you won’t be surprised to know I’m Team Cake Pop. But if you’re not, consider this: What about a boozy cake pop?
I bet I at least have your attention piqued, right? Because cake and booze are two of my favorite things and when you combine them, magic happens.
This recipe is based on Irish coffee, that after-dinner drink that adds Jameson’s Irish whiskey and Bailey’s Irish cream liquor to hot coffee for the best possible way to unwind. The chocolate cake base uses cold-brew coffee and Irish whiskey in the batter, then is combined with that killer Bailey’s Irish cream buttercream frosting before it’s enrobed in chocolate.
Do I have you convinced? The decision shouldn’t be whether to make these (that’s a given) … it should be whether to make them as cake pops or as cake balls/cake truffles. I opt to put mine on sticks because the sticks make it so much easier to dip smoothly in chocolate.
Unearth those bottles of booze from your liquor cabinet and let’s get baking.
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Irish Coffee Boozy Cake Pops
Irish whiskey-infused chocolate cake with Bailey’s Irish cream buttercream
Ingredients
Irish Coffee Chocolate Cake
- 1 devil’s food cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 cup cold-brew coffee or brewed, cooled coffee
- 1/4 cup Jameson’s Irish whiskey
Bailey’s Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 1/4 cup cold-brew coffee or brewed, cooled coffee
- 2 Tbsp Bailey’s Irish cream liquor
- 1 pound powedered (confectioner’s) sugar (approximately 4 cups)
Chocolate Coating
- Wilton lollipop sticks
- 1 bag chocolate candy melts
- 1 Wilton Bright Green Drizzle bag (optional – for accents)
- Festive sprinkles of choice
Instructions
Baking the Cake
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Preheat oven according to cake box mix directions (usually 350 degrees) and spray pan(s) with nonstick cooking spray.
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In a large bowl, mix devil’s food cake mix with 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of melted butter (1 stick), 1 cup of cold-brew coffee, and 1/4 cup Jameson’s Irish whiskey. (Do not follow cake mix direction for water and oil.)
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Stir briskly by hand two minutes (preferred) or with an electric mixer, until smooth and combined. Do not overbeat.
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Pour cake batter into prepared pan(s) and bake according to time on cake mix directions. I made two 9-inch round cakes and baked mine for 25 minutes. You may also prefer to bake one 13×9 pan, which will require a slightly longer bake time.
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Cake is done when toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely.
Making Cake Balls
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Once cool, remove cake from pan into large mixing bowl and crumble cake finely. (Use clean, gloved hands for best results.)
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Add Bailey’s Irish cream buttercream frosting to crumbled cake (see Notes for recipe to prepare frosting). Beat on Medium speed with a hand mixer until thoroughly combined.
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Frosting quantities:
For one 9-inch round cake, use 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup frosting. (More frosting yields more frosting taste; less frosting preserves the cake taste. It’s all a matter of personal preference. One half cup is the minimum needed.)
For one 13×9 cake, use 1 cup to 1/5 cups frosting. One cup is the minimum needed for cohesion.
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Once the batter have achieved your desired consistency. use a heaping tablespoon for each cake ball. Smush batter to form a “clay”, then roll into ball shape.
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One 9-inch round cake will yield about 21 cake balls. One 13×9 cake will yield about 40 cake balls.
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Let cake balls chill in refrigerator for at least an hour before dipping in chocolate.
Chocolate Dipping
Transform your cake balls into cake pops by inserting 6-inch lollipop sticks at least 2/3 into cake calls at top.
Melt chocolate candy melts according to package directions. I used about 1/2 of a 12-ounce bag for 20 cake pops.
Dip cake pop into melted chocolate and use fork to spoon chocolate to cover cake completely.
Gently but vigorously shake lollipop stick side to side to remove excess melted chocolate. Place chocolate-dipped cake pop onto parchment paper to harden.
If you are not accenting with green candy melts and want to add decorative sprinkles, sprinkle before chocolate coating hardens.
Once chocolate has hardened, melt Wilton Bright Green Candy Drizzles Pouch according to package directions and accent with green drizzling, striping or other design. Add sprinkles as desired.
Refrigerate 15 minutes to set. Cake pops should be stored in refrigerator until ready to eat.
As you can see, I decorated 10 cake pops with St. Patrick’s inspired green accents and left 10 classic chocolate-coated.
I hope these festive grown-up cake pops add a little extra fun to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and convert you to Team Cake Pop at the same time. Share your creations with #NeverDoneWithFun on social media, let me know what you think about boozy desserts in a comment below, and follow along on Instagram and Pinterest for daily ideas and inspiration!
If you’re looking for some kid-friendly Irish-inspired fun for St. Patrick’s Day instead, check out easy gold cookie coins, leprechaun bait trail mix or shamrock chocolate pretzel cookies. Or, for a healthier twist on the holiday, blend a clean-eating mint shamrock shake smoothie — no Bailey’s in this recipes but delicious all the same.
