Baileys Poke Cake with Chocolate Fudge Filling

A Baileys poke cake is a chocolate fudge cake baked with Irish cream in the batter, poked full of holes while warm and flooded with a filling of melted chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and more Baileys, then chilled and topped with cocoa whipped cream. Every square is fudgy at the bottom, soft in the middle and cold and creamy on top, and it gets better the longer it sits in the fridge.

It is built on a box of cake mix, and there is no reason to apologize for that. The mix gives a reliable, open crumb that drinks up the filling evenly, which a denser scratch cake does not always do. All of the work is in the filling and the topping, and neither takes more than ten minutes. Patience while it chills is the only real requirement.

Pictured: the full 9-by-13-inch cake with the cocoa whipped topping finished with a thick layer of grated dark chocolate, which is the garnish in the recipe card. Mini chocolate chips or sprinkles work the same way.

What a Baileys Poke Cake Is and Why It Works

A poke cake is any sheet cake that is pierced all over after baking so that a liquid filling can run down into the holes and soak the crumb. The filling in a Baileys poke cake is a ganache loosened with sweetened condensed milk and Irish cream, and that combination is the reason it works so well. Chocolate on its own would set hard in the fridge. The condensed milk keeps it soft and fudgy, and the Baileys thins it enough to pour and adds the flavor.

The cake goes into the fridge after the soak, and that is not optional. Chilling firms the filling into a fudge layer and lets the cake set, so the squares cut cleanly instead of collapsing. It also gives the whipped topping something cold to sit on, which is why it holds for days.

The Irish cream is in three places: half a cup replaces some of the water in the batter, half a cup goes into the filling, and two tablespoons go into the whipped cream. Its flavor is unmistakable but it is not boozy. Most of the alcohol in the batter portion bakes off, and the rest works out to a little over a tablespoon per square.

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Ingredient Notes

• Chocolate fudge cake mix. One 15.25-ounce box, plus the eggs and oil it calls for. Devil’s food works too. Use a chocolate mix, not a plain one, because the filling is chocolate and the cake needs to hold its own.
• Baileys Irish Cream. A cup and two tablespoons across the whole cake. The original is the reference point; the salted caramel and espresso versions both work and each nudges the flavor its own way.
• Sweetened condensed milk. One 14-ounce can. It is what makes the filling stay soft and fudgy in the fridge, so do not swap in evaporated milk, which is unsweetened and thin.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips. One cup, melted into the filling. Bittersweet makes a darker, less sweet filling; milk chocolate is too sweet against the condensed milk.
• Heavy whipping cream. Two cups, very cold. Illinois Extension notes that heavy whipping cream has about 36 percent fat against 33 percent for plain whipping cream, and the extra fat is what makes the topping whip firmer and hold longer.
• Powdered sugar and cocoa powder. A quarter cup of sugar and two tablespoons of sifted cocoa. The cornstarch in powdered sugar helps stabilize the cream, and the cocoa turns it a soft mocha color.
• Dark chocolate for grating. About two ounces, grated on the large holes of a box grater over the top, as pictured. Mini chocolate chips, chocolate curls or sprinkles are the usual alternatives.

How Much Baileys Goes Into the Cake

The batter takes a half cup in place of a half cup of the water on the box. That is enough to taste it without changing how the cake bakes, because Irish cream is mostly cream and sugar and behaves like the milk in a richer batter. Do not replace all of the water; the cake would be heavy and would brown too fast at the edges.

The filling takes another half cup, and this is where most of the Irish cream flavor lives, since it is never baked. The whipped topping takes two tablespoons, which is the most it can take before the cream refuses to whip firmly. If you want a stronger Baileys poke cake, brush the poked cake with two extra tablespoons before the filling goes on rather than adding more to the topping.

How To Make Baileys Poke Cake

First, heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Make the cake batter as the box directs, using the eggs and oil it calls for but replacing a half cup of the water with Baileys. Pour it into the dish and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let it cool for ten minutes.

Next, poke holes all over the warm cake with the handle of a wooden spoon, about an inch apart and two-thirds of the way down. Do not go all the way to the bottom, or the filling runs under the cake instead of into it. Wide holes matter more than many holes, so use a spoon handle rather than a fork.

The Filling and the Soak

Then melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second bursts, stirring between each, until smooth. Whisk in the condensed milk and the Baileys until the mixture is glossy and pourable. If it stiffens, warm it for another 10 seconds. Pour it slowly over the whole cake, then spread it with a spatula and nudge it into the holes. Let the cake cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least an hour so the filling sets.

The Whipped Topping

After that, whip the cold cream with the powdered sugar, cocoa and two tablespoons of Baileys in a chilled bowl until it holds stiff peaks, three to four minutes with a hand mixer. Stop as soon as the beaters leave firm tracks; over-whipped cream turns grainy. Finally, spread it over the chilled cake right to the edges, grate the dark chocolate over the top, and refrigerate for another hour or two before cutting into twelve squares.

How To Tell When Baileys Poke Cake Is Set

The cake itself is done when a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter, and the top springs back when pressed. A box mix in a glass dish usually lands at 30 minutes; a metal pan can be a couple of minutes faster. Pull it a minute early rather than late, since it will be soaked anyway and an over-baked cake goes dry at the edges even under the filling.

The filling is set when it no longer looks wet on the surface and a fingertip pressed on it comes away clean. That takes about an hour in the fridge. Add the topping before that point and it slides.

The whole Baileys poke cake is ready to serve when a knife pulls out clean through the topping and the filling layer holds a straight edge on the cut. If the squares slump, it needs another hour of chilling. Overnight is better still.

Make It Ahead

This is a dessert that is meant to be made ahead, and it is better on the second day than the first. Bake, poke, fill and chill it up to two days before you need it, and add the whipped topping the day you serve it or the night before. Once the topping is on, it holds well for two days and is still fine on the third, though the grated chocolate softens into the cream a little.

Whipped cream can be made the day before and kept covered in the fridge. Give it a few turns with a whisk before spreading if it has loosened.

For a party, cut the chilled cake into squares in the dish and leave them there. They lift out cleanly with a spatula and the dish keeps them cold longer than a platter.

Storing Baileys Poke Cake

Keep the cake covered in the fridge and eat it within four to five days. The condensed milk in the filling keeps the base moist for the whole time, and the flavor of the Irish cream deepens by the day. It should never sit at room temperature for more than a couple of hours, because of the cream topping.

Baileys poke cake freezes surprisingly well. Cut it into squares, freeze them on a tray until firm, then wrap each one and store for up to two months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, not on the counter. The topping loses a little loft but the filling is unchanged, and a frozen square eaten half-thawed is very close to an ice cream cake.

Variations and Substitutions

Alcohol-Free Version

Replace the Baileys in every part with an equal amount of Irish cream coffee creamer, which is sold next to the regular creamers and tastes remarkably close. Or use half and half with a teaspoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon of instant espresso stirred in. The cake, filling and topping all behave exactly the same way.

Other Ways to Change It

Coffee. Add a teaspoon of instant espresso to the batter and another to the filling. It sharpens the chocolate without tasting like coffee.

Salted caramel. Use Baileys Salted Caramel and drizzle a little caramel sauce over the topping just before serving.

Mint. A quarter teaspoon of peppermint extract in the whipped cream and green sprinkles on top, for March.

Scratch cake. Any 9-by-13-inch chocolate cake works. The chocolate buttermilk cake is a good candidate, with a half cup of the buttermilk swapped for Baileys.

Cool Whip topping. An 8-ounce tub, thawed, in place of the whipped cream. It is sweeter and holds longer, which helps if the cake has to travel.

Pudding filling. Some versions use a box of instant chocolate pudding whisked with milk and Baileys instead of the ganache. It is lighter and less fudgy, and it sets faster.

What to Serve with Baileys Poke Cake

It is rich, so the portions are small squares and the drink alongside should be plain: strong coffee, or a small glass of Baileys over ice for anyone who wants to keep the theme going. A few fresh raspberries on the plate cut the sweetness.

If you are putting together a dessert table, a Boston cream pie poke cake uses the same method with a vanilla cake and pudding filling, and a Texas sheet cake covers the chocolate lovers who would rather skip the liqueur. For something older and sillier, the Ho Ho cake belongs on the same table.

Baileys Poke Cake FAQ

More Questions About Poke Cakes

Make the Baileys poke cake the day before, keep it cold, and cut it small. When the same crowd comes back for another chilled sheet cake, the Boston cream version is the one to make next.