Here’s an easy recipe for Irish Cream Bundt Cake made with Baileys Irish Cream liqueur. This is a delicious cake recipe to make for St. Patrick’s Day! Watch the video showing you how to make this Irish Cream Bundt Cake, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Irish Cream Bundt Cake
This Irish Cream Bundt Cake is my favorite super easy cake to make for St. Patrick’s Day, but honestly I enjoy eating it all year long! It’s one of those “jazzed up cake mix” kind of recipes, but don’t let that worry you. It doesn’t taste anything at all like a cake mix cake. It’s so much better.
I know there are cake mix nay-sayers out there. If you’re one of them, you seriously need to give this cake a chance. I’ve gotten so many positive comments about this Irish Cream Bundt Cake recipe over the years. It’s a favorite!
What kind of pan do you need for this Irish Cream Bundt Cake?
This cake is made in a bundt pan. I really must recommend this particular bundt pan to you because it’s a solid, perfect bundt pan that has very clean lines and it pops out bundt cakes perfectly every single time. I’ve never, ever had a problem with any kind of sticking when using this pan to bake bundt cakes. It’s the Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan (Amazon affiliate link). You’ll be so happy with this pan!
You can most definitely use any kind of bundt pan for this recipe. This is just the one I like the best!
See how beautiful it turns out with such a clean mold? I love the swirls so much! Pecans are scattered into the bottom of the pan so they pop up all over the top of the cake after baking. I love how neat it looks with all of the clean lines.
Leave out the pecans if you’re not a nut person, or if anyone you’re serving it to has nut allergies. This Irish Cream Bundt Cake will be just as good without nuts as it is with them.
Baileys Irish Cream Bundt Cake
The magic goodie that makes this bundt cake so good is Baileys Irish Cream liqueur. Baileys is mixed in to the cake batter to give it delicious flavor. And Baileys is also mixed in with the sweet, buttery glaze to give it a nice, sugary crust. It looks so pretty with the glaze brushed on.
They say that alcohol disappears during the baking process, so you don’t need to worry about that. But since the glaze isn’t cooked off (just brushed on after), there will definitely be alcohol in the glaze. Consider that when serving to children or to people who may be struggling with an alcohol addiction. I don’t think it has a significant amount of alcohol in the glaze, so I’m comfortable letting my teenager eat this cake.
If you use this particular pan, it’s so easy to brush it on in several layers and you turn the cake around and around. It just soaks into the cake and travels easily down each of the grooves and clean lines.
This Baileys Irish Cream Bundt Cake recipe turns out such a moist and tender cake. It’s so easy to make. And everyone loves the flavor too!
Here are a few more Irish recipes you might enjoy:
- Irish Cream Cupcakes
- Irish Corned Beef, Cabbage & Carrots
- Irish Pancakes
- Irish Stew
- Grammy’s Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Mojito
Irish Cream Bundt Cake
Recipe Details
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- One 15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix
- One 3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 3/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur
GLAZE:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 10-inch bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the cake and pudding mixes. Add the eggs, water, oil and liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour the batter over the nuts in pan.
- Bake 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
- Prepare the glaze while the cake is cooling in the pan. Combine the butter, water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the Irish Cream.
- Invert the cake onto a serving dish. Prick the top and sides of the cake. Spoon the glaze over the top and brush onto the sides of the cake. Allow the cake to absorb the glaze; repeat until all glaze is used.
This is SO good. I took it to a gathering and everyone loved it. The only thing I did differently was put a whole cup of Irish Cream into the cake batter, leaving out the 1/4 cup water. This cake seemed to be even better the second day too. I “hid” an extra piece to take home, lol.
How could you make this chocolate
I supposed you could try it using chocolate cake mix and chocolate pudding!
I love the recipe; however, to beat on high speed for 5 minutes will ruin the fine texture of the cake batter.
Use medium setting on mixer for 4-5 minutes.
Delicious!!!
Is there a substitute that you can use for the Irish liquor
Kahlua?
Can this cake be made ahead or fozen?
Probably– though it’s always going to be better when made fresh.
I love this recipe! I have made it 3 times so far and everyone always loves it. The first time I did it with a large bundt pan but my favorite is now with my mini bundt pan. They come out moist and perfect every time. I do always use in all my cake recipes milk instead of water and butter instead of oil which always makes a better cake too. I learned not to skimp on the glaze because everyone is always scraping their plate and the cake dish for every bit possible.
I made this cake for my co-workers and I to celebrate St. Pat’s Day. They absolutely loved it and demanded that I make the cake again which I plan on doing so today.
This recipe is a keeper!! I decided to make it for Saint Patrick’s Day and was already planning to make it again after the first slice!
My family said this was the best cake ever…so moist! Thank you for sharing ?
Can I use a white cake mix instead of yellow, if so do I need to add anything else
I think so!
Love this recipe,
Best cake! It is my favorite. I served it to my dinner group and they all requested the recipe. Thank you
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Can the pecans be left out? I have a severe allergy to tree nuts and peanuts!
Sure!
I plan to make soon. It sounds awsome
.
Can you make the irish cream bundt cake without the lliquor in it? Or what can you substitute for it?
Well, this recipe is for Irish Cream… is there another flavor bundt cake you were hoping to make? It might be easier to look for another recipe?
Emily, can you share what brand of gf cake mix you used? Thanks,
Made this last night and it was delicious and very easy to make. I will definitely be making this again.
Made this to kick off the new year. It was incredibly easy and so delicious! I will definitely be making this a tradition.
Can a gluten free cake mix be substituted. Do you use the same amount ?
I’ve never tried using a GF cake mix, so I’m not sure.
I used a gF yellow cake mix and it was delicious-my non-gF eaters enjoyed it
Just made this for tomorrow!
Does this need to be refrigerated?
It does not.
Update: the mint chocolate version is more amazing than the Irish cream one. I used a chocolate fudge cake mix, chocolate fudge pudding and 1/2 cup creme de menthe + 1/4 cup creme de cacao in the cake plus I stirred in a handful (about 1/3 cup) of Andes (mint) baking pieces. And I used 1/8 cup each creme de menthe and creme de cacao in the glaze. So perfect with the chocolate and mint together.
When getting supplies I also found a pineapple cake mix that I picked up. I bought coconut cream pudding and plan to use coconut rum to make a pina colada version.
Tried this for a St. Paddy’s Day party last weekend using a gluten free cake mix and gluten free flour to dust the pan. Turned out fabulous. You’d never know it was gluten-free. Seemed like there was way too much glaze (took forever to get onto the cake and lots of it pooled in the middle and around the bottom), but it tasted amazing. I’m planning on attempting a chocolate version (chocolate cake and pudding) using creme de menthe (and leaving out the nuts). Will probably attempt a bourbon or rum version sometime also.
There was a Bacardi Rum bunt cake recipe similar to this years ago. I think the rum was only used in the glaze, though. Still, very delicious!!
Oh, my goodness! How can you not make this amazing cake?
I am a huge fan of Irish Cream, and this cake is amazing!
I loved it! Really gorgeous and delicious!
We love everything Irish cream, so this cake had our names on it from the start!
This is such a great cake flavor! So tasty.
Ohhh such a beautiful cake. Irish cream is my favorite splurge during the holidays and this cake is now my favorite way to consume it. Well done. It was so SO good.
Such a fun recipe. I love that Irish cream!
A beautiful cake everyone will love.
You’d never guess this was made from a cake mix!! It’s so delicious!!
Pure Heaven! This is such an easy fool-proof cake. It’s a true crowd pleaser.
Will the alcohol content cook out in the cake and glaze? If not any suggestions for substitutes?
It will cook out in the cake, but the glaze has the alcohol in it too– not sure if that cooks out.
This was delish!!! Made the recipe as is and my glaze was perfect! I’ve done an Irish Cream scratch cake in the past and it was dry. The cake mix made it moist and flavorful. Thanks for the recipe it was a hit at my St. Patrick’s Day party.
If I make this a day before I serve it, should I glaze it then or hold off until the day I serve it?
Glazing as soon as you make the cake is fine.
Thank you for this recipe!!! I made it it was delicious!!! My whole family enjoyed it!!!
When cake is made day before- should it be covered air tight or loosely covered? Frig or not? Thanks
I just cover it with plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature.
I just made this cake! It smells wonderful, but my glaze turned into a thick caramel type sauce. I followed the directions exactly. Has this happened to anyone else? I drizzled it on my cake. It looks pretty. Hopefully it will still taste great!
We have nut allergies. Can this be done without them?
yes!
This cake looks so so good! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe in my new Lodge fluted cake pan. Oh, the flavors sound amazing and it looks so moist!
Could you tell me if this could be made the day before serving?
definitely!
Looks delicious! Could I use this same recipe to make cupcakes?
They’d be pretty dense.
Made it love it
Thanks for sharing.
I’m on vacation and really want to make this cake. I’m at an altitude of 8000. Do I have to adjust cooking temperature or/and cooking time? Thank you.
Here’s the guide I use for high altitude baking adjustments: http://www.mountainmamacooks.com/high-altitude/
Can you use regular vanilla pudding & pie filling instead of instant?
Thanks!
Karen, I have not tried it with regular. I would think there is a reason for the instant, but I can’t tell you why!
Is there a recipe for the yellow box cake mix? I don’t live in the US and it’s hard to find the cake mix box where I am. Is it possible to half the recipe?
I don’t have one. This recipe uses a boxed mix, so I’m not sure how you’d modify it to be homemade. I don’t recommend halving the recipe.
Can this be made in a regular cake possibly?
A regular cake pan? Possibly. It will just be rather dense.
What about amount of liqueur content when serving to people, will people be sensitive too it?
No, the liqueur in the cake diminishing in the baking time. And there is a very small amount in the glaze. My 16 year old gobbled it up with no mention of it tasting like alcohol.
can I use a regular bundt pan?
yes, any bundt pan will do!
Hi, Just wondering if this recipe is made with a box cake mix weighing 15.25oz(new size of mix) or with the older box mixes weighing 18.50oz from a few years ago. If recipe is made with the older size how do you adjust recipe for the smaller size box? Cake looks beautiful, Thank you for a quick reply.
Hi Linda, it works with either size!
This cake sounds amazing and by all the comments it definitely a crowd pleaser. I just stumbled on your site and came across this recipe. Thank you for the post! I will try it out and come back and share my results.
Can you use a white cake mix?
Haven’t tried with white, but go for it!
What size cake mix? Thanks.
There is only one size these days, so just grab a box of yellow cake mix (if you’re in the US).
Is the glaze meant to be very liquid after the 5 minutes. I also found the continuous boil a challenge on the glaze and had to remove it for a bit as it nearly bubbled over (even with continuous mixing). Making this for tomorrow in Dublin (maybe the Irish weather is the problem ?) 🙂
It’s a pretty liquidy glaze… just meant to coat the outside of the cake and let the cake absorb some of it too.
I made this a few years ago for a church potluck and it was a huge success. I had forgotten all about it until now. I am going to make one for work. Gotta impress the boss…lol
Can’t wait to try it….looks delish.
This cake is delicious. I made one for work, the staff literally scraped the plate clean, it’s that good!