B52 Layer Cake
Kahlua, Baileys 'n chocolate: the trifecta of boozy dessert awesomeness. This layer cake is inspired by the flavours of a B52 coffee. It's a labour of love but worth very bite! Recipe and photos by Gotta Get Baked.
Servings: 24
Calories: 907kcal
Ingredients
Chocolate Kahlua Cake (adapted from Flour Arrangements)
- 5 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder I used dark cocoa
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup Kahlua
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 8 tablespoons butter room temp
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup hot coffee or boiling water
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Orange Olive Oil Cake (adapted from Italian Food Forever)
- 2 small seedless oranges
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
For the Baileys Ganache:
- 10 ounces dark chocolate chopped
- 1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
- ½ cup Baileys Irish cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
For the Coffee Buttercream:
- 4 cups unsalted butter room temp
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 5 teaspoon whipping cream or heavy cream
Instructions
For the Chocolate Kahlua Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two nine inch cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Microwave the chocolate in 15-second intervals until melted (I do this to prevent it from burning). Set aside to cool.
- Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the Kahlua, sour cream and oil in a bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about five minutes.
- Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well.
- Add the flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream-Kahlua mixture, to the egg-butter mixture. Mix until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Be careful not to over-mix the batter. Stir in the boiling water and mix until blended.
- Add the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the two prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool the cakes in their pans for 30 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto racks to cool completely.
For the Orange Olive Oil Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 inch case pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Cut off the ends of the oranges and throw those pieces away. Cut the oranges into chunks, place in a food processor and puree until fairly smooth, but with some texture left. Add the olive oil to the pureed oranges and blend together.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornmeal and salt.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix together.
- Add half of the egg mixture and half of the orange mixture to the flour. Stir until just combined, there will be streaks of flour in the batter at this point. Add the second half of the egg mixture and the second half of the orange mixture. Stir until just combined – this time, there should be no streaks of flour left. Be careful not to over-mix the batter.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops of the cakes are golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Don’t over-bake the cake. It’s best to check it even before the 25 minutes are up.
- Remove from the oven and cool the cakes in their pans for 30 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto racks to cool completely.
For the Baileys Ganache:
- Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Set aside.
- Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium high heat. You want it to come to a slow boil only. Pour half of the heated cream over the chocolate and mix together. Pour the rest of the cream and the Baileys into the chocolate and mix until fully combined.
- Add the butter and mix until it has melted and is fully combined. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
For the Coffee Buttercream:
- Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with an electric hand mixer. Mix the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until fully combined. Add the espresso powder and the whipping cream. Mix until fully combined and the buttercream is light, fluffy and silky.
For the Assembly
- I cut the chocolate Kahlua cakes in half so I ended up with four layers (you’ll have an extra layer left over. If you don’t want any leftovers, you can just use the two layers, but they’ll be fairly thick). I didn’t cut the orange olive oil cakes. You can assemble the cake in whatever order you like but here’s what I did.
- My layers from the bottom up: Chocolate Kahlua cake | frosting | orange olive oil cake | frosting | ganache | chocolate Kahlua cake | frosting | orange olive oil cake | frosting | ganache | chocolate Kahlua cake | frosting | ganache (top layer)
Notes
Nutritional information was calculated so this cake would feed 24 people. This cake has multiple layers and is very rich so slices would be small. If you intend to feed less people than that please use your own nutritional calculator to readjust calories per serving.
Recipe Source: Gotta Get Baked
Chocolate Kahlua Cake adapted from Flour Arrangements
Orange Olive Oil Cake adapted from Italian Food Forever
Nutrition
Calories: 907kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 33g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 167mg | Sodium: 269mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 64g | Vitamin A: 1433IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 4mg