Cake 23: Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust and Stout Beer Chocolate Glaze

My husband, Luke, came up with this wonderful cake idea. The challenge ingredient this week was “pretzels.” So naturally I gravitated to a pretzel crust. But then I got stuck. I’ve already made a turtle cheesecake, which would probably be fantastic with a pretzel crust, but no duplicates in the 52 Cakes Project! So Luke thought of something brilliant. Beer and pretzels go together – in bars, anyway. Well, they can go together in cheesecake, too. I think this counts as an “Irish car bomb cheesecake recipe” since it’s got stout Irish beer and Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur in it.

Pretzel Cake Crust Recipe Ingredients

• 1 cups crushed pretzels
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar

Pretzel Cake Crust Recipe Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the crushed pretzels, butter and brown sugar. (Save some of the bigger chunks of crushed pretzel to garnish the cake!) Press the pretzel crust mixture into the bottom of a prepared springform pan. Bake the pretzel crust for about 10 minutes and then let it cool completely while you work on the rest of the cheesecake. Put it in the refrigerator to chill the crust and pan.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake Recipe Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 0.75 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake Recipe Directions

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur and vanilla extract just until blended. Beat into the sugar and cream cheese mixture. Chop the white chocolate and fold into the filling with a spatula. Pour the Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake batter into the chilled springform pan. Bake about 50 minutes, or until the center of the cheesecake is set. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Stout Beer Glaze Recipe Ingredients

• 2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
• 0.25 cup stout beer
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 0.25 cup cocoa powder
• 0.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar

Chocolate Stout Beer Glaze Recipe Directions

Melt the butter and chocolate with the Irish stout beer over low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream cheese, vanilla and cocoa powder until smooth. Alternate adding the beer and chocolate mixture and the sifted powdered sugar until smooth.

Garnish with salted peanuts and chunks of crushed pretzel or small pretzel sticks.