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This quick and easy homemade Irish cream recipe is the one you’ve been looking for! You’ll never have to buy a bottle at the liquor store again when all it takes is 5 minutes and 6 ingredients to make the perfect copycat version of your favorite silky-smooth Irish cream liqueur!
DIYing your own homemade Irish cream recipe is really too hard to pass up.
Six ingredients? That you probably already have on hand?
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I’m always so happy with the results of a copycat recipe, and I promise you will be too once you whip up a batch or three.
This page includes step by step instructions, as well as tips and notes. If you’d like to skip all that, feel free to scroll down to the full, printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
What is Irish cream?
Irish cream is a cream-based liqueur that can be enjoyed on its own, or mixed in co*cktails, coffee, or used in desserts. Typically made with Irish whiskey, the drink is lightly sweetened and also contains hints of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla flavors.
It has been made popular mostly in the form of Baileys Irish Cream, a well known store-bought brand. I’m a big fan of all of their flavors, and I use it a lot in baking, so our liquor cabinet is never without a bottle.
Your homemade Baileys will blow that 2-year shelf life stuff out of the water. Plus, it’s ridiculously quick and easy to make. You don’t even need any special blender or strainer – a bowl and a whisk will do the job as well as any high-powered small kitchen appliance.
Sweetened condensed milk – keep a few extra cans of this on hands for whim recipes like this.
Irish whiskey – it IS boozy, after all.
Heavy cream
Instant coffee
Chocolate syrup
Vanilla extract
How to make homemade Irish cream
In a blender, combine the all of the ingredients and blend on high speed until combined, about 30 to 60 seconds.
Transfer the mixture to an airtight container or glass bottle. Store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 months. Shake well before using and serve chilled over ice or splashed in your morning coffee.
The best ways to use homemade Irish cream
So what will you do with your homemade Irish cream? Aside from sipping it as a dessert co*cktail with a little ice or using it in an Irish coffee, of course!?
It adds a nice kick to festive co*cktails like my mint chocolate Guinness float, and jazzes up a creamy espresso martini or Baileys Grasshopper, as well. As far as baking, you can add it to just about anything from cupcakes to lava cake to truffles. It’s the star in this Irish Cream Coffee Mud Pie.
Even more delicious Irish recipes to enjoy!
The Best Slow Cooker Irish Guinness Beef Stew
Easy Irish Soda Bread with Caraway
Small Batch Irish Coffee Cupcakes
Dublin Coddle: Classic Irish Stew
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This quick and easy homemade Irish cream recipe is the one you’ve been looking for! You’ll never have to buy a bottle at the liquor store again when all it takes is 5 minutes and 6 ingredients to make the perfect copycat version of your favorite silky-smooth Irish cream liqueur!
In a blender, combine the all of the ingredients and blend on high speed until combined, 30-60 seconds.
Transfer mixture to an airtight container or glass bottle. Store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 months. Shake well before using and serve chilled over ice or splashed in your morning coffee.
Baileys Irish Cream is an Irish cream liqueur made of cream, cocoa and Irish whiskey emulsified together with vegetable oil. Baileys is made by Diageo at Nangor Road, in Dublin, Ireland and in Mallusk, Northern Ireland.
The only rule is to avoid citrus or anything with a lot of citric acid, which makes it curdle. That means avoid juices and soda. Other than that, there's a wide range of things with which you can mix Baileys to make seasonally appropriate (or mood appropriate) drinks.
Does Bailey's Irish Cream go bad or expire? Generally as long as you don't subject it to temperature extremes it will last well beyond the official 2 year "best taste before" date. Over time the taste will change and the liquid tends to go a bit darker but only really noticeable if you do a side by side comparison.
Original Irish Cream blends Irish whiskey and spirits with Irish dairy cream and a touch of rich chocolate and vanilla flavours. Pour over ice cream, mix into coffee, or enjoy it with ice for an originally delish Baileys moment.
The acidic lime juice causes the cream-based Baileys to curdle. The curdled Baileys does not taste sour, but it does rapidly gain viscosity and stick to the drinker's teeth, reminiscent of cement.
However a combination of whiskey and cream should give a close alternative to the liqueur. When making the mascarpone and egg mixture use 1 tablespoon of whiskey, 3 tablespoons of single (or heavy or whipping) cream and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of the 75ml/1/4 cup of Baileys liqueur.
Every year, roughly 200 million litres of fresh Irish milk are required to produce the creamiest of cream used in the production of Baileys. That's enough to make about 3.3 billion Baileys milkshakes, give or take. This milk is mostly supplied from small, family-owned farms.
Cream liqueurs curdle because of their high dairy content. Dairy products (such as milk or cream) curdle in the presence of an acidic liquid. Acids have a very low pH, which lowers the overall pH of the mixture. As the pH drops below 5.5, the casein proteins in the dairy ingredients begin to curdle.
The cream comes from cows that indulge on the lush grass that grows on Ireland's rolling hills, resulting in rich and distinctive dairy unlike what's produced in the United States. Only premium, aged Irish whiskey makes it into the bottle.
To be a true Irish cream liqueur, a key component is the definition of cream – you must ONLY use Irish dairy cream. A true Irish cream is also made of whiskey. Wine or white spirits can make a liqueur – but do not come close to the original and best Irish cream liqueurs.
For Kahlúa Original, we recommend a shelf life of 4 years. Actually, the product will be good for many more years, but the coffee impact fades over time so it won't give you the full flavor impact. Also, if you were to receive an old bottle of Kahlúa, you have to make sure it has never been opened or tampered with.
Cream liqueur should be disposed of like any other fats and oils. Seal it first in a container then dispose of it in the bin. Even better, you can also use up the last of your bottle in our Bailey's chocolate cake.
Simply Called Food doesn't recommend freezing Baileys because it will make it hard to pour. If placed in the freezer, the alcohol in the Baileys will not freeze, but the cream will. So go ahead and open a bottle of Baileys and enjoy now and later.
Bailey's Irish Cream is bottled in the US at 17% ABV, if we assume that a beer is 5% ABV, that means that the Bailey's contains 3.4 times the alcohol as beer. If your beer is 16 oz by volume it would contain 0.8oz of pure ethanol. A 1.5 oz shot of Bailey's would contain 0.255oz of pure ethanol.
Are you curious to find out if Baileys, the creamy Irish whiskey liqueur, contains caffeine? If so, you'll be pleased to learn that yes - Baileys does contain a minute amount of caffeine!
Baileys and Kahlua both complement a freshly brewed cup of coffee, but there are distinct differences between the two liqueurs. Baileys is creamy and derives its taste from cream, cocoa, and Irish Whiskey.Kahlua is dark without the creaminess of Baileys and is made with 100 percent arabica coffee, rum, and sugar.
The carbs in Baileys Irish cream are a result of sucrose, which is the name for table sugar. According to the USDA FoodData Central, 4 grams or 1 teaspoon contains 15 calories. This means a single serving of Baileys has 5 teaspoons of sugar for 75 calories. It is an alcoholic beverage that's high in sugar.
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Introduction: My name is Duncan Muller, I am a enchanting, good, gentle, modern, tasty, nice, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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