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Whiskey Cake, Two Ways

Beall + Thomas photography

Fruitcake isn’t the only liquor-soaked dessert that brings out the holiday cheer. This time of year, the classic Tennessee whiskey cake also finds itself in heavy rotation in Southern kitchens, inspiring the rich updates included here.

Brown Butter Apple Spice Whiskey Cake

“This is my modern version of a cake my nenaw—maternal grandmother—used to make at the holidays,” says Shelley Cooper, the Tennessee-born executive chef of TerraMáe Appalachian Bistro in Chattanooga and Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro in Townsend. “I have the best memories of this cake. It was ridiculously moist and boozy, and it had to be hidden from me because as a little one I would fully overdo it.”

You WIll Need:

For the cake:

For the glaze: 

To Make:

1) In medium sauce pan or sauté pan, brown butter over medium heat until amber in color and nutty in aroma. Allow to cool to the touch before proceeding.

2) Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray. Sift flour and add next six ingredients into medium bowl. 

3) Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugars, grated ginger, and orange juice and zest in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla and flour mixture. Mix in apples. Pour pecans into prepared pan and pour batter over pecans. Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about one hour. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze:

5) Stir all ingredients in small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to boil. Reduce heat to medium; whisk until glaze is smooth, about one minute. Remove from heat. Invert cake onto rack set over baking sheet. Using small skewer, pierce holes all over top of warm cake. Pour glaze over top, allowing it to be absorbed before adding more. Cool cake 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

Blackberry Farm’s Sticky Pumpkin Pudding Cake with Whiskey 

You WIll Need:

For the browned butter whiskey sauce:

Slowly heat the butter in a sauce pot. Stir the butter occasionally until the solids and the fat separate. Continue cooking until the solids sink to the bottom of the pot and turn a light brown color. Be sure at this point to whisk and scrape the bottom of the pot so that the browned bits do not fully stick to the bottom. At this point you can add the rest of the ingredients individually, one after the other, being sure to stir well. Once everything is combined, bring the sauce to a simmer and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Set this aside to cool slightly while you prepare the batter.

For the cake batter:

To Make:

1) Preheat your conventional oven to 375 degrees F.

2) With an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until they are evenly combined.  Add the egg and the extract, and continue to beat on medium speed until the mixture lightens in color to a pale yellow. Combine all of the dry ingredients together and separately combine the pumpkin puree with the buttermilk. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the mix; blend it fully between each addition. Scrape the bowl down periodically through mixing.  

3) To finish and bake the cakes, butter several (eight to ten) eight-ounce ramekins or crocks. Pour three to four tablespoons of the sauce into the bottom of each dish. Drop about ¼ cup of batter into each dish, then top the batter with another 3 to 4 tablespoons of sauce. Bake the cakes for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4) Serve the cake warm in the dish with a scoop of ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

—Recipe courtesy of Katie Bennett, baker at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee

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