When you think of St. Patrick's Day food, a plate of corned beef and cabbage and a pint of Guinness probably come to mind. But we're here to encourage you to make a little bit of room on your table for cakes. Is there such a thing as a traditional St. Patrick's Day cake? Not exactly. So instead, we turned to quintessentially festive flavors and ingredients like dark, malty stouts, Irish cream liqueur, whiskey, chocolate, and lots and lots of green food coloring. The cake recipes that most say "St. Patrick's Day" either get their hue from gel food coloring or naturally green ingredients like matcha powder, mint, parsley, or pistachios. And when you can't find yourself faced with a pot of gold, there's always gold leaf for decorating.
Best St. Patrick's Day cake recipes
You can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day without consuming a pint of dark beer one way or another. If you can't imagine sipping a stout, bake a cake with it! Oh, and this super fudgy chocolate cake just happens to be vegan.
2. Matcha and Coconut Mochi Cake
On St. Patrick's Day, I want all of my food to be so green that I just naturally turn into a leprechaun. This coconut-y, green tea cake is perfect for that.
Five cups of herbs (four cups of parsley and one cup of mint) turn an otherwise ordinary yellow cake into an earthy green masterpiece. "It's festive and shamrock-forward, but also a bright spot at the end of a dense, salty meal," says our editors.
4. Pistachio Cake with Lemon, Cardamom, and Rose Water
One cup of ground pistachios teams up with a cup of almond flour to make this gluten-free, light-as-air cake extra-green for St. Patrick's Day.
Chocolate and mint are a no-fail duo and one we will die on the Cliffs of Moher for. There's minty fresh flavor in both the chocolate cookie crumb crust, the creamy mint filling, and (drumroll please) the chocolate-mint whipped cream on top.
6. Mini Pistachio-Vanilla Birthday Cake
This pistachio-studded cake is just as apt for a birthday party as it is a delicious dessert to finish a rich St. Patrick's Day feast.
"The slightly effervescent pear cider-cream cheese frosting swoons contentedly upon a truly dark, rich, and delicious chocolate stout cake. I think you'll like it," writes recipe developer Arielle Clementine. I think you're right.
Way easier to make than a traditional bûche de Noël and even more appropriate for St. Patrick's Day is this matcha-infused fluffy cake.
Is there anything particularly festive or Irish about this vanilla cake recipe than this one.
10. Food-Processor Pistachio Cake with Raspberry Cream
We love an unfussy cake and this one hits the mark — you don't even need a stand mixer to make it! The cake batter comes together entirely in a food processor, which results in a light and fluffy texture.
11. Champagne Cake
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this super festive cake glistening with dark chocolate ganache and edible gold because why not?
Food52's Resident Baking BFF describes this dessert as a single, tall devil's food cake topped with an almost equally tall mound of peppermint seven-minute frosting. There's nothing inherently Irish about it, other than that it promises a good time.
13. Coconut Caramel Sheet Cake Layer Cake
If you're getting together with a big group to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, then a sheet cake is surely in the cards. It feeds more than enough party attendees, and it requires a little bit less work and way less decorating to make it look presentable.
14. Triple-Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake
Technically this over-the-top cheesecake has four layers of chocolate — there's a chocolate cookie crumb crust, plus three layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate mousse for a St. Patrick's Day cake that no one will refuse.
Give the baker of these Irish cupcakes a big ole kiss. The coffee cupcake batter also has a generous splash of whiskey, while the icing on top is made with Bailey's Irish cream.
16. Rye and Rhubarb Anytime Cake
Rhubarb season and St. Patrick's Day naturally sync up, so take advantage of this pretty-in-pink vegetable for just a short time with this crumb cake.
17. Fudgy Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Frosting
"Frankly, this is just a really good chocolate cake, which happens to be gluten-free. It's a single layer, but a hefty one, an absolute dream to slice into," writes recipe developer Shilpa Uskokovic. Anyone who gets to taste a rich, fudgy slice should consider themselves lucky.
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