I put whiskey in a cake.
A really really nommy cake.
If you’ve been reading for awhile, you may have noticed that I enjoy a boozy birthday cake. This past birthday I drenched a blueberry cake in Frangelico. The year before I drenched an almond cake in amaretto.
I thought I’d keep with my boozy tradition and make Preston a birthday cake with his favorite liquor, Maker’s Mark.
Wednesday was Preston’s birthday and tonight we celebrate! I got up this morning and got started on his cake!
The secret ingredient that is all over this thing is a brown sugar whiskey reduction sauce. It’s super sweet and smoky and delicious. It adds a fantastic element to this cake and frosting, I just love it! Whiskey seemed a bit strong to pour directly into a cake batter (my port brownies are about as strong as I’d want an alcoholic cake), so I made this super sweet reduction sauce to go in the cake and in the frosting.
brown sugar whiskey syrup:
3 C whiskey
3/4 C brown sugar
Pour both ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for about 30 minutes, until reduced to about one cup. Then set aside to cool.
orange buttercream frosting:
1/2 C brown sugar whiskey reduction sauce (half of the reduced amount)
juice and zest of one half an orange
1 lb bag powdered sugar
1/2 C margarine or vegetable shortening
1/2 t orange extract
*I added a little food coloring to make a more exciting color than the tan that the whiskey sauce creates…but it wasn’t working so well, so I stopped at this orange-y color. Maybe keep the tan…or just cave and use a LOT of food coloring. Judgment call.)
Beat everything together really well! That’s it 🙂
whiskey brown sugar cake:
3 C flour
3 t baking powder
big pinch salt
1/2 C margarine, softened
1 C raw sugar
1/2 C brown sugar whiskey reduction sauce (the other half of the reduced amount)
1/2 C soy creamer (I used French Vanilla)
zest and juice of one orange
1/2 t orange extract
4 eggs’ worth of egg replacer (I used Ener-G)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients and stir well. It will be a really thick batter, but that’s how it should be. Spread it into two 9-inch round baking dishes (grease and flour them.) It will rise and even out a little bit, but stays pretty flat, so spread the batter out pretty flat. Makes it perfect for stacking and frosting!
Bake for 30 minutes, then remove and cool completely on cooling racks before frosting.
I made myself a little test cupcake. Well, two of them, but obviously I had to eat one first to make sure it’s good! I am really happy with this yummy cake! You can’t tell that there’s whiskey in it, there’s just a unique what-the-heck-is-that-yumminess flavor that hits your tongue. Love it. Just beware, this is nowhere approaching a guilt-free cake. (Though a really teeny teeny piece is totally satisfying.) Worth it!
Happy boozy caking!
Nutrition facts per serving (1/12 of cake + frosting): Calories: 653; Calories from Fat: 141; Total Fat: 15.7g; Saturated Fat: 4.1g; Sodium: 146mg; Total Carbohydrates: 89.8g; Dietary Fiber: 0.9g; Sugars: 64.6g; Protein: 3.2g
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