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Baileys Cheesecake has a crisp chocolate crust, ultra-creamy baileys chocolate cheesecake filling, and a luscious layer of chocolate ganache. This decadent treat is perfect for any celebration, and is a fabulous make-ahead dessert!
Why you’ll love Baileys Cheesecake:
- Creamy Baileys Chocolate Cheesecake – The chocolate cheesecake is ultra creamy and flavored with irish cream, cocoa powder, and melted chocolate for extra decadence.
- Chocolate Cookie Crust – The crisp crust pairs perfectly with the creamy texture of the cheesecake.
- Luscious Chocolate Ganache – Top your cheesecake with chocolate ganache for a true chocolate lover’s dessert!
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).
- Irish Cream – You can use Five Farms, Baileys, or any irish cream liqueur in this recipe.
- Melted Chocolate – I recommend using baking chocolate bars for best results, rather than melting chocolate chips.
- Cream Cheese – Use full fat cream cheese, in the block style. This needs to come to room temperature before you bake.
- Eggs – Use large eggs at room temperature.
- Sour Cream – Use full fat sour cream, at room temperature.
- Heavy Cream – You’ll need this for the ganache. It’s sometimes called heavy whipping cream.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations:
- Chocolate Crust – You can also use crushed oreos or chocolate sandwich cookies instead of the graham crackers.
- Dairy-free – I haven’t tested this cheesecake dairy-free, but you should be able to swap in your favorite dairy-free alternates.
- Gluten-free – Use gluten-free sandwich cookies or graham crackers in the crust to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Crust – Don’t want quite so much chocolate? Feel free to use regular graham crackers. Want an oreo crust? Use oreo cookies!
- Food Processor – If you don’t have a food processor, crush the crackers or cookies in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.
How to Make Baileys Cheesecake:
Step 1: Make the Crust: Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, stir together crushed chocolate graham crackers and melted butter. Press the crust into a springform pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Make the Chocolate Cheesecake. In a large mixing bowl, beat your cream cheese, then mix in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, sour cream. Add the cocoa, irish cream, and melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture.
You should have a smooth batter. If you end up with a few tiny lumps, that’s ok.
Step 3: Bake & Chill the Cheesecake. Pour the batter into your pan and bake cheesecake as directed in the recipe card below. The cheesecake will need to cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge at least 6 hours before serving.
Step 4: Make the Ganache. Simmer together heavy cream and Irish cream, then pour over finely chopped chocolate in a separate bowl. Stir until you have a luscious ganache! Pour this over your cooled cheesecake.
Serving + Storing:
The cheesecake needs to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. It then needs to chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days before serving. Store leftovers in in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Try my Irish Cream Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars or my Baileys Cake next!
Expert Success Tips:
- Sinking Cheesecake – If you over mix the cheesecake batter, your cheesecake will sink some in the oven. Try to mix the ingredients in until they’re just combined, following the directions in the recipe card below.
- Smooth Ganache – You must chop your chocolate very finely for the hot cream to melt it and not leave behind little chunks.
FAQs:
Yes, cheesecakes are always a make ahead dessert because they require chilling. Once it’s cooled to room temperature, store the cheesecake in the fridge covered with foil or plastic wrap, still in the pan, for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days.
Special Tools:
- Springform Pan – This recipe uses a 9-inch springform pan.
- Offset Spatula – I use an offset spatula for so many things, including smoothing the batter evenly into the pan for this recipe.
More Cheesecake Recipes to Love:
- Mini S’mores Cheesecakes
- Perfect Classic Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake
- Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake
- No Bake Cherry Cheesecake Parfaits
- Mini No-Bake Apple Pie Cheesecakes
- Boozy Key Lime Rum Cheesecakes
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating!
Click the little stars in the header of the recipe card below to leave a comment & star rating, letting me know how you liked the recipe. I take all feedback seriously, & leaving a rating helps my small business immensely!
Bailey’s Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs , 230 grams
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted, 113 grams
For the Cheesecake
- 32 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature , use full fat, block style, 907 grams
- 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar , 315 grams
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature , 240 grams
- 1/2 cup irish cream (or baileys), 120 mL
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 56 grams
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, melted, use a baking bar – 113 grams
Bailey's Chocolate Ganache
- 3/4 cup heavy cream, 180 mL
- 1/4 cup irish cream (or baileys), 60 mL
- 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped, 226 grams
Instructions
- Make Crust: Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and place a piece of parchment paper across the bottom before securing the pan, so the edges are hanging out. This makes for easy removal later. Stir together crust ingredients in a small bowl and press into prepared pan and up the sides a bit. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs , 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- Make the Cheesecake Filling: Remember that your cold ingredients need to come to room temp before you start or the filling won't turn out as well.In a large bowl, cream the softened cream cheese with a hand mixer on medium-high speed, until nice and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and mix until creamed with the cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each, on medium-low speed until just incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream, and mix until just incorporated. Add the cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and irish cream and mix until just incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl.32 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature , 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar , 4 large eggs, at room temperature , 2 tsp vanilla extract , 1 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature , 1/2 cup irish cream (or baileys), 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 4 ounces milk chocolate, melted
- Prepare the Water Bath: This can be done two ways. Place your springform pan inside of a 10-inch metal cake pan, and place that inside a roasting pan filled with a few inches of boiling water. This ensures you will have no leaks into your crust. This is the only way to truly prevent leaks. Alternatively, you can place the roasting pan of boiling water on the rack below the cheesecake.
- Bake & Cool your Cheesecake: Pour the batter into your prepared crust. Bake for 70-75 minutes. When done, the cheesecake will have only a slight wobble in the center, and a toothpick inserted into the edge will come out clean, and will have a bit of thick batter when inserted into the center. (A clean knife is a good sign that you've over baked your cheesecake and it won't have that extra creamy texture.) Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open. Let cool in the oven for one hour.
- Cool & Chill Cheesecake: Remove the roasting pan with the cheesecake from the oven. Place the springform pan with the cheesecake inside on a wire rack to cool for 1-2 hours at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 6 hours or up to 2 days before adding ganache (recipe below) and serving.
- Make the Irish Cream Ganache: Add finely chopped chocolate to a medium bowl. Heat Irish cream and heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Pour over the chocolate, let rest 5 minutes, then stir until completely smooth. If any small chunks remain, microwave in 8 second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth.3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup irish cream (or baileys), 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- Serve & Store: Slice and enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
There is way too much batter for the size of the pan. Even with the water it cracked all around the edge-because there was too much. I took a leep of faith and followed the recipe but the end result was a disaster. I’ve made many cheesecakes over the years and this was a first. Raw in the middle and crisp almost burnt edges. I would modify the amounts or use a 10 inches pan. It tastes good but doesn’t bake well.
Hi L. Brown – sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t work out for you. However, I rigorously test my recipes and have never had an issue like that with any of my cheesecakes. I’m wondering if your oven temperature was off? Have you tested it lately with an oven thermometer? Happy to help troubleshoot!
Made this cheese cake for out son’s birthday and everyone raved about it! It was truly amazing – Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Hope! I’m glad it was a hit, and happy birthday to your son!
Can I freeze the Baileys cheesecake without the ganache and then after the cheesecake has thawed, put the ganache on it?
Hi Debbie! Yes that should work fine. Make sure the cheesecake has cooled to room temperature, then refrigerate it for 6 hours before freezing. You can wrap the cheesecake in plastic wrap with the bottom of the pan still on, but the sides removed. Wrap in one final outer layer of foil. Be sure your freezer has nothing smelly like a bag of diced onions as this smell can seep into other foods (I’ve heard horror stories about frozen wedding cake!) Thaw cheesecake in the fridge overnight then add toppings when serving. Please let me know how you enjoy this recipe.
This cheesecake is rich and flavorful and was a hit when I made it for friends.
So glad to hear that, Charlotte!
Excelentes recetas, gracias
Gracías, Fanny! 🙂
Hi! This looks delicious! Could I leave out the Irish cream in the ganache? Would I need to add more cream? Have little kids that may not enjoy the flavor. Thanks!
Hi Christie! You would need to replace the Irish cream with an e
Hi Christie! You would need to replace the irish cream with equal parts heavy cream – so 1/4 cup of heavy cream in it’s place, for a total of 1 cup of heavy cream in the ganache. I will note that in the recipe card for the future. Please let me know how you like the cheesecake! Happy baking.
Good but Super rich
I love that you’ve included so many helpful hints. I could’ve used these when I was first starting out making cheesecakes back in the days before the internet!
Thanks, Shannon! Hope you enjoyed this cheesecake 🙂