Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Bailey’s Cupcakes
Bailey’s Cupcakes are a decadent bailey’s dessert with moist cake and sweet coffee frosting. A perfect dessert for St. Paddy’s Day!
Food is always one of my favorite parts of any celebration so it would be fair to assume that each holiday in our home is going to be centered around food. As each holiday approaches, I start thinking about the meals that we could have.
When it comes to St. Paddy’s day, I am all in for the corned beef and colcannon. And obviously, you’ve got to have a dessert too. So why not an Irish Cream dessert? That is where these Bailey’s Cupcakes come in. They are decadent, sweet and thanks to yellow cake mix, they are crazy easy to make.
I know that sometimes using a box mix can get a bad wrap. And, admittedly, most of the time I will make desserts 100% from scratch. But sometimes, you’re short on time. And sometimes, you just find a really awesome recipe that happens to use cake mix. These Bailey Cupcakes are just that.
I do love bailey’s desserts. I mean seriously, this mousse?! Basically, I just love Bailey’s, if I’m being honest. I mean who doesn’t love a splash in their coffee every now and then?
A splash of bailey’s in my coffee is also what inspired the frosting for these Bailey’s Cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves are moist and full of Bailey’s flavor thanks to a generous pour of baileys. The frosting on the other hand, is buttercream with a hint of coffee.
These cupcakes are absolutely delectable, friends!
So as you are planning your St. Paddy’s day celebrations make sure that these Bailey’s Cupcakes are a part of it!
Bailey's Cupcakes
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 package super moist yellow cake
- 1 3.4 ounce package chocolate pudding mix
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup Irish cream you can use any brand
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Coffee Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 3 tablespoons strong coffee
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Sift together cake and pudding mix. Whisk in remaining ingredients until smooth. Mixture will be somewhat thick.
- Line a cupcake pan with liners. Fill liners 2/3 full of cupcake mixture.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter with a hand held mixer. Continue beating as you gradually add in the powdered sugar. Add in the milk and coffee until frosting is stiff but spreadable
Notes
Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Kim
September 1, 2023 at 4:41 amYou dont separate whuch ingrediants are for cake and which for frosting?…
Deseree
September 2, 2023 at 6:07 pmThank you for catching that, Kim! I’ve added the ingredient header to separate the cake ingredients from the frosting ingredients.
Tracy Rush
January 21, 2023 at 7:00 pmrecipe calls for 3 Tablespoons strong coffee……….Is this BREWED coffee or Instant crystals that will dissolve in the cupcake mix ??
Deseree
January 21, 2023 at 8:22 pmBrewed coffee :)
jo ann gregor
January 18, 2023 at 12:42 pmthis recipe looks wonderful! but i can’t figure out how to email to myself so i can print.
Deseree
January 18, 2023 at 2:54 pmHi Jo Ann! Thank you! You shouldn’t have to email yourself, you can hit the print recipe button and it’ll print for you :)
Judith Sigler
January 15, 2023 at 8:09 amThese look so yummy! I’m also wondering if the batter can be used to make a 9 x 13 cake??? What do you think??
Deseree
January 15, 2023 at 10:34 amYou know I am not sure since I never tried it but that being said, it is a box cake mix and if you can make a 13×9 cake with it, I’d think you could do the same here!
Michele McCord
November 22, 2021 at 6:38 pmI had to tweak it. The pudding to me, made a dense cupcake. I omitted it and added a white chocolate powder in in its place. I also used Baileys Apple pie Irish Cream and a 1/4 sour cream. My butter cream I did a homemade caramel Buttercream! TOP-NOTCH!
Deseree
November 23, 2021 at 9:41 amMichele, the changes you made sound intriguing! I am definitely going to have to try them! I can’t recall seeing white chocolate powder anywhere. Where do you buy it?
Spielekreis
March 16, 2018 at 10:33 amThank you for reading, Adegbola.
Lauren @ Hall Nesting
March 8, 2018 at 4:09 amGirl these are right up my alley
John Sellers
March 7, 2018 at 8:25 pmGoing to attempt this. (I’m not a cook) instant or regular pudding mix? Thanks
Deseree
March 8, 2018 at 10:10 amInstant! Hope you enjoy them :)
Alyssa Brantley
March 7, 2018 at 6:06 pmThese are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any day! Yum!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert
March 7, 2018 at 4:27 amThese look irresistible!
Joe
March 6, 2018 at 11:11 amI like the idea of Baileys cupcakes but where is the Bailey’s used???? It is missing from the recipe instructions
Deseree
March 6, 2018 at 1:01 pmHi Joe! It’s listed as Irish Cream in the recipe instructions. I’ll make that more clear. Thank you! :)
Bill
March 6, 2018 at 8:27 amWhy didn’t you use Bailey’s in the icing instead of milk?
Deseree
March 6, 2018 at 1:01 pmI didn’t think of that! Let me know if you try it!
Amanda
March 6, 2018 at 5:08 amI LOVE the flavors going on here, especially in that frosting!!
Chrissie
March 6, 2018 at 12:49 amYour piping job is SO great! Love those pretty layers of frosting!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
March 5, 2018 at 6:11 pmA friend is having a little get together for St Patty’s Day. I have been looking for the perfect dish to take and this is it!
jenna
June 26, 2016 at 3:48 pmI made these at work for my residents, EVERYONE loved them. Best cup cakes by far, so fluffy and light. just perfect. Thank you for the recipe :]
Des @ Life's Ambrosia
June 26, 2016 at 9:43 pmYou are welcome Jenna! I am so happy to hear that you and the residents at your work enjoed them!
Linny
March 13, 2014 at 8:55 amHi, I’m making the Irish Cream Cupcakes for St. Paddy’s. I am a little confused. Your recipe shows 1 teaspoon of vanilla before the butter cream frosting begins. I’ve always put vanilla in my butter cream frosting…….so is the vanilla supposed to go in both or just the cupcakes?
Deseree
March 13, 2014 at 9:30 pmLinny- I used the vanilla in just the cupcakes. I didn’t want to add anymore liquid since I used the coffee. If you like your frosting more with vanilla, add a 1/2 teaspoon or so and work your way up from there. Hope this helps!
Deseree
February 7, 2013 at 8:42 pmHi Danni- You could try mixing a couple of tablespoons of instant espresso into water and then adding that to the frosting since espresso is a bit stronger.
Danni
February 7, 2013 at 10:04 amWhen making the icing I put the directed 3 tablespoons of coffee in but found that it tasted more like the sugar than a coffee flavor. I added more coffee but still didn’t help. Any suggestions?
Hoho
June 28, 2012 at 3:45 pmWow ,these cup cakes are irish just like one direction boy band member naill horan i’m right,yeah?? And i think if my family are toghter i will do this cup cake
Kathy
May 6, 2011 at 10:27 pmThanks for the info. I liked the dense moist texture, too but I didn’t know if that was the way they were “supposed” to be.
But since everyone LOVED them, that ‘s what matters !
We loved the Chocolate Carmel Kiss cocktail, too!
We’ll be trying more of your recipes….thank you for sharing.
Kathy
April 11, 2011 at 5:11 pmDo you use “regular” or “instant” chocolate pudding mix?
Is the “super moist” cake mix, one with “pudding” already in the mix?
I baked these with a super moist pudding in the mix cake mix and instant pudding.
They were a little dense but DELICIOUS.
Maybe I underbaked them or maybe I used the wrong combination of ingredients???
Deseree
April 12, 2011 at 8:21 pmHi Kathy- I’m glad you liked them! I use an instant pudding and Betty Crocker super moist cake mix that has the pudding in it. My cupcakes were a little dense too but I like them that way. You could try baking them for a little bit longer to see if your results change. Thanks for your comment! :)
Karen
March 20, 2010 at 10:10 amOh my gosh, these were SOOO good! I debated using a chocolate cake mix instead of yellow, but I decided to follow the recipe, and I’m so glad I did. The texture of the cupcakes was light & springy, and the flavor was fantastic! I added a teaspoon or two of instant coffee to the cake batter just to help enhance the Irish cream flavor. I also made an amazing Irish cream frosting/filling that I injected into the cupcakes; then I iced the cupcakes with some leftover cream cheese buttercream mixed with the remaining Irish Cream frosting. WOW! By the way, I piped the icing on the cupcakes using a parchment bag that was striped with Kelly green gel color. The effect was very pretty & just perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Needless to say, I will be making these every St. Patrick’s Day from now on. Thank you so much for posting this recipe! :)
Deseree
March 21, 2010 at 5:06 pmYou’re welcome Karen! I’m glad you enjoyed them. I love the changes you made, especially injecting the cupcakes with Irish cream frosting, talk about yum!
Mary
March 10, 2010 at 10:05 pmI made these and they were FABULOUS!!! My friends DEVOURED them, including one friend who insisted “I’m not a big fan of cake or cupcakes” – HE HAD TWO!! THANKS!
Deseree
August 7, 2009 at 7:04 pmhaha wow. Thank you Deb! I am so surprised I didn’t catch that. Making the correction now :)
Deb
August 7, 2009 at 4:32 pmcorrection for frosting recipe “beat the butter then gradually add powdered sugar”
Mrs. L
March 17, 2009 at 2:30 pmI have to laugh because I too, have leftover Bailey’s Cream Cheese frosting! I think these cupcakes would work perfect (not to mention use up part of this huge bottle of Bailey’s I now have in my fridge!)
Deseree
March 17, 2009 at 2:33 pmhaha Mrs. L, I am beginning to think that I need to make some of this Bailey’s frosting! I too have a huge bottle in my fridge, time to get creative! :)
Michelle
March 17, 2009 at 1:48 pmYour frosting looks perfect. Did you pipe it on?
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/
Deseree
March 17, 2009 at 2:24 pmThanks Michelle! I don’t have a piping bag but I put the frosting into a plastic bag, snipped off the end and used that. I had never tried it before but it seemed to work pretty well. :)
The Craving Chronicles
March 17, 2009 at 6:04 amOhhh these sound fantastic! I have some Irish creme frosting left over from the cupcakes I made recently, so maybe I will whip up a batch of these and frost them with the leftovers! Yum :)
Deseree
March 17, 2009 at 12:26 pmThank you NAOmni!
The Craving Chronicles: Oh double the Irish Cream, that sounds wonderful! :)
NAOmni
March 16, 2009 at 6:39 pmLooks amazing!
NAOmni
Shelly
March 16, 2009 at 3:49 pmThanks for posting your recipe! I love to bake cupcakes and never made anything like that so its going on my “to bake” list!
Deseree
March 16, 2009 at 3:59 pmYou’re welcome Shelly!