Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake- a Doctored Mix

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This Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake is super moist and has amazing flavor from Irish Cream, pecans, toffee, and espresso- nobody would guess it starts with a simple yellow cake mix!

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, we wanted to make another cake with Baileys Irish Cream, but this flavorful recipe would be perfect no matter what time of year.

(For chocolate lovers, make sure to also check out our scratch Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Layer Cake!)

This buttery, glaze-soaked cake is rich and decadent with many layers of flavor.

Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake

Why we Love It

Perfect combination of flavors

Bundt Cakes are not only delicious, but they are beautiful just as they are. No additional decoration is needed.

The decadent glaze soaks into the bundt cake (while still in the pan), making it incredibly moist! Our easy rum cake and banana rum cake recipes are similar in this way!

What is Baileys Irish Cream?

Baileys is a brand of delicious Irish cream liqueur which consists of cream, cocoa, and Irish whiskey.

There are other brands of Irish Cream that could be used in this recipe as well. Baileys is considered the original Irish Cream, and has been produced in Ireland since the early 1970s.

Irish cream is often paired with coffee or chocolate, but the options are endless.

How Strong is the Irish Cream Flavor in this Recipe?

The Baileys Irish Cream flavor in this cake is not overpowering. It is subtle in the cake itself, although the flavor is stronger in the glaze that is poured over the cake while it is still in the pan.

For this reason, the most Irish cream flavor is around the outer edges and bottom of the cake, as you can see in the slice pictured above. So delicious!

How to Make Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake

You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and prepare a 12 cup bundt pan.
  • Sprinkle the bottom of the prepared pan with the 1 cup chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons toffee bits.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake
  • Sift the cake mix and pudding mix into your mixing bowl. Dissolve the espresso in ½ cup hot water and add to the mixing bowl along with the eggs, oil, and Irish Cream.
  • Mix a medium speed for one minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix one more minute.
  • Fold in the ¾ cup toffee bits and ½ cup of chopped pecans.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake
  • Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
  • During the last 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze.
  • Remove the baked cake from the oven and leave in the pan. Poke some holes into the cake using a wooden skewer and apply the glaze (see instructions below)

For the Glaze

This is a simple glaze that our cake will be soaked in just after baking- it adds lots of moisture to the cake as well as richness and flavor.

  • In a saucepan, stir the sugar, butter, and water over low heat until butter has melted. Raise the heat to medium heat, stirring constantly until it begins to boil. (Be careful-It may boil over if you are not stirring.)
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake
  • Boil for 3 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the Baileys Irish Cream.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake

Adding the Glaze to the Cake

Rather than glazing the cake with a pastry brush, we are going to actually pour the glaze over the cake while it is still in the pan.

  • When the baked cake is pulled from the oven and still in the pan, pour the warm glaze over the cake and let it sit .
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake

Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake- This flavorful, super moist recipe starts with a yellow cake mix!
  • It takes about 15 minutes for the glaze to soak in.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake- A Doctored Cake Mix
  • After 15 minutes has passed and the glaze has absorbed, place your cake plate or pedestal upside down against the cake pan and then flip it all as one so that the cake plate is now right side up with the inverted pan on top.
  • Lift the pan to reveal the cake. Sometimes it may take a few seconds after inverting for the cake to release from the pan.
Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake

Alternative Method of Glazing the Cake

I love this glaze and pour it right over the freshly baked cake as described above.

This results in cake slices that have pockets around the edge where the glaze is more concentrated.

However, you can certainly use less glaze if you would like, or even pour half or ¾ of the glaze over the cake while it's still in the pan and brush on the rest (or as much as you'd like) on top of the cake with a silicone brush after flipping it out of the pan.

Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake- So flavorful! Doctored Cake Mix Recipe

Baileys Toffee Pecan Bundt Cake

More "Boozy Cakes" to Try!

We've made many delicious cake recipes over the years that have just a little extra kick from added champagne, rum, tequila, and more!

Some are cocktail inspired cake recipes while others feature popular flavor pairings as with today's Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake recipe. You can find some of our favorites below- or scroll through our full listing here!: Favorite Boozy Cake Recipes

Some of our most popular are our elegant Limoncello Cake, our classic Black Forest Cake, festive Pina Colada Cake, and Pink Champagne Cake!

Our Favorite Bundt Cakes

We love these bundt cake recipes! Not only are the delicious, but they are so easy to decorate with just a light dusting of sugar or simple glaze.

Variation of Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake

I have also made this cake as simply a Baileys Irish Cream Cake without the coffee, toffee bits, and pecans in the batter - but with the same glaze and pecans on top. It was also delicious, and the alcohol flavor was more pronounced.

You could also experiment with chocolate cake mix or a little cocoa in the batter- there are so many fun flavor options!

Enjoy the Recipe

Thanks so much for stopping by our site today! If you try our Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake, we would love for you to share a comment or photo! 

Make sure to stop by our Cake Recipes and Tutorials Section for hundreds more recipes and free cake decorating tutorials!

Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake- a Doctored Mix

Baileys Toffee Pecan Cake

This decadent bundt cake is flavored with Baileys Irish Cream, pecans, and toffee bits.

Ingredients

  • 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines, 15.25 oz)
  • 1 Small Package (3.4 oz/96g) Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • ½ c. (121g) hot water for dissolving instant espresso granules
  • 2 teaspoons espresso granules
  • ½ cup (108g) Vegetable Oil (we use Canola oil)
  • ½ cup (121g) Baileys Irish Cream
  • ¾ cup toffee bits
  • ½ cup (52g) Pecans, chopped

Topping

  • 1 cup (104g) Pecans, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons toffee bits

For the Glaze

  • 1 cup (200g) White Sugar
  • 1 stick (4oz)(113g) Unsalted Butter
  • ¼ cup (61g) Water
  • ¼ cup (61g) Baileys Irish Cream

Instructions

For the Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  2. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup bundt pan. (See notes)
  3. Sprinkle the bottom of the prepared pan with the 1 cup chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons toffee bits.
  4. Sift the cake mix and pudding mix into your mixing bowl. Dissolve the espresso in ½ cup hot water and add to the mixing bowl along with the eggs, oil, and ½ cup Irish Cream.
  5. Mix a medium speed for one minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix one more minute.
  6. Fold in the ¾ cup toffee bits and ½ cup of chopped pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan.
  7. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
  8. During the last 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze.
  9. Remove the baked cake from the oven and leave in the pan. Poke some holes into the cake using a wooden skewer and apply the glaze (see instructions below)

For the Glaze

  1. In a saucepan, stir the sugar, butter, and water over low heat until butter has melted. Raise the heat to medium heat, stirring constantly until it begins to boil. (Be careful-It may boil over if you are not stirring.)
  2. Boil for 3 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in the ¼ cup Baileys Irish Cream.

Adding the Glaze to the Cake

  1. This glaze will be poured over the cake just after the baked cake is pulled from the oven and still in the pan. Pour the warm glaze over the cake (still in pan) and let it sit for 15 minutes.
  2. After 15 minutes has passed, when the glaze has been absorbed, place your cake plate/pedestal upside down against the cake pan and then flip it all as one so that the cake plate is now right side up with the inverted pan on top.
  3. Remove the can pan to reveal the cake. Sometimes it may take a few seconds after inverting for the cake to release from the pan.

Notes

With bundt pans, I like to use this homemade cake release. If you have trouble with your cakes sticking, you will love this recipe!

HOMEMADE GOOP CAKE RELEASE

You can make half the recipe or any quantity you want, just use equal amounts of the 3 ingredients.

1 cup (121 g) Flour

1 cup (191 g) Vegetable Shortening

1 cup (215 g) Vegetable Oil

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl. Begin mixing on low speed until the flour is moistened. Increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth. (Can also be mixed by hand). Coat your cake pan liberally with the cake release.

Transfer the remaining cake release to an airtight container. The general rule of thumb is that it lasts 3 months at room temperature or up to 6 months in the refrigerator.

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10 Comments

  1. Would have been interested in this recipe (my mum loves Baileys) had it been properly home made but I’ve never been able to bring myself to use a packet mix. Besides we don’t really have the equivalent cake/pudding mixes in the UK.

  2. I am wanting to know the Duncan Hines cake mix ounces. Was it the 15 ounce size or the 18 ounce size of box cake mix?
    Thank you to anyone responding!

    1. Hi Susan, you can use this with your favorite scratch recipe, and just substitute the Baileys for some of the liquid.

      For the glaze, to be on the safe side, I'm not sure if all cakes would absorb the glaze in the same way and so I would probably just pour half of the glaze into the cake while still in the pan and then brush on the rest after flipping out.

    1. Hi Nancy- We have only tried this recipe with pudding, which make the cake slightly denser. I think the recipe would still be good without pudding, I don' t know if a fluffier consistency will absorb the glaze differently- let us know if you give it a try!