St. Patrick’s is a big holiday at my parent’s house, since a ton of my mother’s family still lives in Ireland and we LOVE to celebrate that. We normally do an amazingly incredible Cheesy Irish Soda Bread (very untraditional), corned beef, potatoes and cabbage. It’s DAMN good stuff and my mother cooks for a million people, even if there’s only 4 of us there. 

This is one of those disgustingly decadent cakes that my mother always made every year, at least while I was of age. It’s rich and delicious and full of the taste of Baileys… which I love. It’s not for the kids though, because while the Bailey’s burns off in the cake, it doesn’t in the icing. And while that’s perfect for me, it’s probably not perfect for little Johnny.

Enjoy and maybe your Bailey’s cake will make you go a little (Erin Go) Bragh-less.

Erin Go Bragh-Less Bailey’s Bundt Cake

Ingredients

1 C Chopped Pecans

1 Package Yellow Cake Mix

1 (3.4 oz) Package Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

4 Eggs

1/4 C Water

1/2 C Vegetable Oil

3/4 C Bailey’s Irish Cream

1/2 C Butter

1/4 C Water

3/4 C White Sugar

1/4 C Bailey’s Irish Cream

 

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour your bundt pan (see my fancy new pan from Williams and Sonoma. LOVE) 

Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly around the bottom of the pan.

In your stand-up mixer, or in a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, vegetable oil and the Bailey’s. Grab a nip for yourself with your coffee or on ice. (YUM!) Beat until everything is well incorporated and smooth.

Pour into your beautiful greased bundt pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I always like to set my timer for 50 minutes and then check a few times after… no one likes an overdone bundt.) Let it cool for 10 minutes and then invert (carefully) onto a dish.

With a knife or other sharp, roundish object, start poking holes in your bundt. This allows the glaze to soak all the way through and make the whole thing nice and boozy. (Hooray!)

Glaze

Melt the butter, water and sugar in a small saucepan until everything dissolves. Bring it to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes, until it reduces. Remove from heat (IMPORTANT) and mix in the remaining Bailey’s. Pour that deliciously boozy glaze all over your beautiful bundt, brushing the sides and letting it absorb. Repeat until all of your glaze is gone, soaked all the way in to that gorgeous cake of yours. Let it sit for a few seconds before devouring it…

Just make sure it doesn’t make you go Bragh-less.