Irish coffee is a study in balance — strong coffee softened with cream and a quiet note of Irish whiskey. This Irish Coffee Meringue Layer Cake takes the same idea and translates it into dessert form.
At its heart, the cake begins with a simple three-ingredient meringue, baked until crisp and light. Layered with softly whipped cream flavoured with coffee and Irish whiskey, it becomes refined and celebratory without feeling heavy or complicated.
The recipe comes from acclaimed pastry chef JR Ryall of Ballymaloe House, the renowned luxury country house hotel and restaurant set on 300 acres in County Cork, Ireland. Long regarded as the birthplace of modern Irish cuisine, Ballymaloe House is famous for its ingredient-led cooking and its legendary dessert trolley, where Ryall’s seasonally inspired pastries are wheeled through the dining room each day.
Like many of his desserts, this Irish Coffee Merigue Layer Cake feels both classic and contemporary — its clean, geometric layers giving a modern edge to a dessert rooted in tradition. Ryall describes his inspiration behind the dessert in his cookbook Ballymaloe Desserts: “This gâteau plays on the flavours of Irish coffee. The cream is flavoured with Irish whiskey and the meringue is flavoured with coffee. I like to assemble this gâteau a few hours before I plan to serve it, to give the boozy cream a chance to slightly soften the meringue.”— written with files from Phaidon
Why this cake works for celebrations
- Built on a simple three-ingredient meringue base
- Light and elegant after a meal
- Can be prepared in stages ahead of time
- Feels special without being fussy
Inspired by Irish Coffee (H2)
Irish coffee traditionally combines hot coffee, sugar, Irish whiskey, and softly poured cream. In this cake, those flavours are echoed more subtly — coffee folded into the meringue, whiskey gently flavouring the cream — resulting in a dessert that feels familiar, balanced, and quietly indulgent.
About the Recipe (H2)
This recipe comes from pastry chef JR Ryall of Ballymaloe House in Ireland, where simplicity and balance are central to the cooking philosophy. Much like the original Irish coffee, the dessert relies on restraint: crisp meringue layers, lightly sweetened cream, and just enough coffee and whiskey to bring depth without overwhelming the palate.
Before You Begin (H3 — optional but helpful)
The meringue layers can be baked ahead and stored in an airtight container, making this an ideal dessert for entertaining. Assemble just before serving for the best texture.
A fun variation of this recipe is to pipe the coffee meringue into small ‘kisses’, which when baked can be sandwiched together with the whiskey cream, to make whimsical baby meringues.
Irish Coffee Meringue Layer Cake
Ingredients
Meringue
- 3 tsp instant coffee powder not granules
- 1⅔ cups + 2 tsp icing sugar
- 3 large egg whites
Assembly
- 3 tbsp Irish Whiskey
- 2½ cups whipped cream
- icing sugar, for sprinkling
- unsweetened cocoa powder for sprinkling
Instructions
Meringue
- Preheat the oven to 130°C/265°
- Cover a large baking sheet with baking paper and use a pencil to draw three 18-cm/ 7-inch diameter circles on the paper. Flip the paper over so the pencil is on the underside.
- Sift the instant coffee powder and 2 tsp of icing sugar together and set aside.
- Place the egg whites and 170 g/6 oz (1⅔ cups) of icing sugar into the spotlessly clean bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Begin whisking at medium speed. After about 1 minute, increase the speed to full and whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks, about 10 minutes.
- Gently fold the coffee and sugar mixture into the stiff meringue, let it sit for about 30 seconds and fold once more. In this time the coffee powder will begin to dissolve into the meringue.
- Transfer some of the mixture to a piping (pastry) bag and pipe twelve small meringue kisses on the lined baking sheet. Evenly spread the remaining meringue in three thin disks, using the pencil circles as a guide. Bake for about 1 hour until crisp and set. When the meringue is cooked it will lift easily away from the baking paper. Allow to cool completely.
Assembly
- In a bowl, fold the whiskey into the whipped cream. Put one of the meringue discs on a serving plate. Spread or pipe just less than half of the whiskey cream over the meringue, taking care to keep the edges neat. Put the second circle of meringue on top and cover with a similar amount of cream as before. Place the third meringue circle on top and press down lightly. Decorate the top with the remaining whiskey cream, the coffee meringue kisses and a light dusting of icing sugar and cocoa powder.
