This Baileys Brownie Cheesecake is made with a thick brownie base, super creamy Baileys cheesecake filling and a Guinness chocolate ganache topping! The combination of these flavours and desserts is completely irresistible!
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Perhaps you’ve seen my Coffee Brownie Cheesecake recipe? It’s gotten pretty popular, and everyone who’s made it has raved about how delicious it is, so I’ve decided to make another brownie based cheesecake with a new flavour!
And with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, it was only right that I create a Bailey’s Irish Cream flavoured cheesecake.
Baileys Brownie Cheesecake
Baileys and chocolate make a fabulous flavour combination. Every Baileys recipe I’ve developed has some chocolate in it, because I can’t imagine having a Baileys dessert without it.
Aside from Baileys and chocolate, brownies and cheesecake are also a life-changing pair! The smooth and creamy texture of a cheesecake and the rich fudgy texture of brownies, is it even a surprise that they make such a perfect combo?
4 Parts to this Baileys Brownie Cheesecake
- Brownie Base: instead of a traditional cookie crust, at the bottom of this cheesecake is a simple chocolatey brownie!
- Bailey’s Cheesecake: my favourite part! Just ½ cup of Bailey’s Irish Cream is needed for the perfect amount of flavour!
- Guinness Ganache: who knew you could make ganache with beer?! This Guinness Ganache pairs amazingly with the Bailey’s Cheesecake!
- Bailey’s Whipped Cream: my first attempt at making a Bailey’s flavoured whipped cream ended up a soupy mess, but with a few adjustments I ended up with a light, fluffy and flavourful whipped cream!
Brownie Base
So let’s start by making the brownie base. I used a mixer for this, but you really won’t need to since we’ll be using melted butter so there’ll be no creaming.
Instead of using melted chocolate, like I usually do when making brownies, this brownie base gets its chocolate flavour from cocoa powder. If you want a deeper and more intense chocolatey flavour, substitute half of the unsweetened cocoa powder with dutch-process cocoa.
To add additional depth to the chocolate flavour, I also stirred in some instant coffee with the vanilla extract before adding it to the batter. You won’t taste the coffee, instead it’ll make the brownies chocolate flavour even stronger!
Baileys Cheesecake Filling
The cheesecake filling is creamy, rich, silky and smooth, but most importantly, it’s full of bold Baileys flavour! Preparing this cheesecake is a walk in the park and you only need 7 ingredients.
- Cream Cheese Bricks: I always use three 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese. It’s the perfect amount for a perfectly sized cheesecake that isn’t too thick or too thin. Make sure to use full-fat cream cheese, there’s no getting away with using lighter options here.
- Sugar: 1 cup of granulated sugar is all you need to perfectly balance the tangy with the sweet.
- Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon of cornstarch can help prevent cracking! Emphasis on help. There’s still a few other things you’ll need to do to make sure your cheesecake doesn’t crack at all like a waterbath and slow cooling. Don’t have cornstarch? Replace it with 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour for the same results!
- Vanilla: yes, most of the flavour comes from the Baileys, but a little vanilla couldn’t hurt!
- Sour Cream: sour cream is perfect for creating an extra creamy cheesecake!
- Baileys Irish Cream: I wanted to add 1 full cup, but I didn’t want to mess up the texture of the cheesecake with too much liquid so I with ½ cup instead and still ended up with a bright Baileys taste.
- Eggs: eggs provide the structure to a cheesecake. I like to use 3 whole eggs, and 1 egg yolk for extra creaminess!
Guinness Ganache
Baileys and Guinness combo for the win! You can top this cheesecake with a simple chocolate + cream ganache if you want, but there was a box of Guinness in my house and I couldn’t resist!
Now I personally don’t drink beer at all, I don’t enjoy the taste. However, I have 0 problem using it for baking!
✖️Beer
✔️Beer flavoured chocolate ganache
How do you even make beer ganache? I hear you ask. Well, it’s simple! A ganache is usually made with chocolate and heavy cream. All we need to do is replace half of the heavy cream with beer!
What I did was combine the chocolate, heavy cream and Guinness in a bowl, then microwaved it in 30 second intervals for about 1 minute. From there all you need to do is slowly stir the mixture until everything comes together to form a ganache!
Finish off the cheesecake with a Baileys whipped cream border and chocolate curls. I made the curls by shaving a chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler. The mint leaves aren’t necessary at all and were only added for photography purposes.
We’ve got a powerhouse of flavours here! The chocolate brownie, Baileys cheesecake, beer ganache and Baileys whipped cream all working together to create a truly blissful dessert experience for you and whoever you plan on sharing it with (IF you plan on sharing 😉).
Did you make this Baileys Brownie Cheesecake? Let me know how it turned out in the comments below! And don’t forget to leave a rating!
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Let’s get baking!
Baileys Brownie Cheesecake
This Baileys Brownie Cheesecake is made with a thick brownie base, super creamy Baileys cheesecake filling and a Guinness chocolate ganache topping! The combination of these flavours and desserts is completely irresistible!
Ingredients
Brownie Base:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 and ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Baileys Cheesecake:
- 3 (8 ounce) packages (24 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
Guinness Chocolate Ganache:
- 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ Guinness beer (or beer of your choice)
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Baileys Whipped Cream:
- ¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
- 2 tablespoon Baileys
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
Topping:
- Chocolate curls
Instructions
For the Brownie Base:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, and spray the sides with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Place cubed butter in a medium bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly until the butter is completely melted.
- Remove bowl from heat and immediately add both sugars, whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth.
- Add eggs, egg yolk and vanilla and slowly whisk until combined. Do not overmix. Sift in flour, cocoa, and salt and stir with a rubber spatula until well blended.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.
For the Baileys Cheesecake:
- Take 1 extra large piece of aluminum foil that’s bigger than your springform pan. Place springform pan in the centre and fold aluminum up to the sides to cover the outside of the pan. This ensures that no water seeps into the pan during the water bath. Alternatively, I placed my pan in a slightly larger pot to completely protect my crust from the water.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add sugar and cornstarch. Beat until smooth and combined.
- Add the the vanilla, sour cream and Baileys. Continue beating until smooth.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and continue to beat until everything is combined.
- Add eggs and yolk one at a time, beating slowly until just combined, do not overbeat. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is combined.
- Pour the cheesecake onto the cooled brownie base and place into a larger pan.
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and carefully pour into the larger pan. The water should only be a few inches up the sides of the pan. Do not go over the top.
- Bake at 300°F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cheesecake is done when the edges are set and the center jiggles just slightly.
- Turn off oven and leave the cheesecake to cool for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, crack the door open and continue cooling the cheesecake for another 30 minutes. This helps prevent cracking.
- After an hour, remove cheesecake from waterbath and aluminum foil. Run a knife around the edge of the pan so it's not sticking to the sides and allow to cool completely on a rack.
- Refrigerate cheesecake until firm and chilled, about 8 hours or overnight.
For the Guinness Ganache:
- Pour the chocolate chips, heavy cream and beer into a heat safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, until the cream and beer are steaming hot. This takes me about 1 minute.
- Stir slowly until the mixture comes together to form a thick ganache. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Remove cheesecake from the refrigerator and run a butter knife around the sides to loosen the springform pan ring.
- Remove the ring and pour the ganache on top of the cheesecake. Spread into an even layer, then place the cheesecake back in the refrigerator and allow the ganache to set for about 10-15 minutes.
For the Baileys Whipped Cream:
- In a chilled stainless steel or glass bowl, whip the chilled cream, Baileys and powdered sugar until it reaches stiff peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
- Pipe the whipped cream onto the cheesecake and garnish with chocolate curls (see notes). Enjoy!
Notes
- Tools Used: springform pan | stainless steel bowls | stand mixer | balloon whisk | small angled spatula | pastry bag | Wilton 6B Tip
- Chocolate Curls: to make the chocolate curls, I shaved a chocolate bar using a vegetable peeler.
- Storage: Store this cheesecake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 611Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 203mgSodium: 125mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 2gSugar: 59gProtein: 8g
BON APPÉTIT!
Love, Dedra
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