Break out the booze and your red cowboy boots cause we be bakin’ here country style — with whiskey and dark molasses — for this one-bowl vintage country cake with a decadent sweet whiskey glaze and a whiskey icing slathered between each slice!

We’re using bread pans (no sissy circle cakes here!) — just the way they do it in the country when they’re serving up a man cake. Ha!  And for a family friendly variation, we have vanilla substitutions for you with sweetened whipped cream.

I’m not a whiskey or bourbon sipping fan myself– but it’s a different story when a nice aged whiskey soaks through a dark molasses cake — just like the way a splash of rum brings a gentle punch to a handful of decadent Southern rum balls. Our dear departed Aunt Winnie (who lived to be a sweet 94 years old) added a dash of whiskey to her afternoon coffee – and swore it did her good. So here’s cheers dears to baking a fine old recipe for whiskey cake with all the fixin’s!

Cowboys come in all shapes and sizes, just like the bulls and broncos they’re roping. And they’re always so fun to watch and wonder about.  Don’t you think?  We created this little animated video tribute to the Great American Cowboy (with our vintage recipe in mind). Hope it makes you smile!

We’re using Jack Daniel’s whiskey in our recipe because you WILL taste it in the cake and you want a nice Tennessee whiskey or a fine Tennessee bourbon (or something comparable).  Did I say drizzled or did I say SOAKED in sweet whiskey sauce?  Bring on the Soaker Sauce! Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ bout!   And…Did I say dark molasses with your whiskey? Oh yeah.  I guess I did. Well, it’s hawt! So it bears repeating. 🙂

It’s a Double-Up Cake!  This wild west cake recipe makes up 2 bread-sized pans of cake. One to take and one to keep. Or both for a crowd. You’ll find the table bristling with good humor when you haul it out for dessert. Serve it with black coffee…country style, of course. Or, I suppose, Jello Shooters if you must. But candlelight and champagne may do just as well. Country OR city settings allowed. 🙂

So, put down your briefcase and your iPhone and put on your apron. Now. TURN UP the tunes in the kitchen! Let’s hear some Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn just for starters then mix in some Johnnie Cash and Willie Nelson. Now you’re in the country cookin’ spirit for a western cake!

Tools Needed for Whiskey Cake:
2 bread pans 9″
cooking spray
Electric mixer
Large mixing bowl
Fork for (for mixing eggs)
Spatula
Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients for One Bowl Country Whiskey Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 cup golden brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
6 large fresh eggs
2 cups general all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup low-fat (2%) milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s whiskey (substitute: 1/3 cup water and 1 Tablespoon fine quality vanilla extract)

Directions for One Bowl Country Whiskey Cake:

Preheat oven to 350.

Place into a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes in order to bring to room temperature:
6 large fresh eggs

Spray 2 bread pans with cooking spray and set aside.

Place into microwave and nuke for about 10 to 20 seconds to bring to room temperature:
1 cup (2 cubes) unsalted butter

Stir the butter with a fork to ensure it is not too cold and not too warm.

Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, beat on high-speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes):
the softened butter

Beat into the creamed butter on medium speed until fluffy (about 2 minutes):
1 cup golden brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar

Tip: The grainy texture will melt into smoothness as you proceed with the recipe.

In a small bowl, using a fork, mix well:
the room temperature eggs

On medium speed, slowly drizzle the beaten eggs into the creamed butter and sugar and beat for about 2 minutes.

Tip: The beaten eggs will smooth out the butter and sugar in the batter.

In a large bowl, combine:
2 cup general all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine dry ingredients with a fork or a whisk.

With mixer on low-speed, blend into the batter for about 30-seconds one-half of the combined dry ingredients.

With mixer on low-speed, blend into batter for about 30 seconds, half of:
1/2 cup low-fat (2%) milk

On low-speed, blend in the balance of combined dry ingredients into the batter for about 30 seconds and then beat in the balance of the milk.

On low-speed, blend into batter until just incorporated (about 30 seconds):
1/2 cup molasses

On low-speed, blend into batter until just incorporated (about 30 seconds):
1/2 cup dark corn syrup

On low-speed, blend into the batter until just incorporated (about 30 seconds):
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s whiskey

Blend on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Batter will be golden and somewhat thinned with the addition of the liquids.

Divide the batter evenly and pour into two prepared bread pans.

Bake at 350 for about 40 to 50 minutes, until toothpick test comes clean and center top springs back lightly when touch or internal temperature reaches 205 at the center point.  Tip: Don’t worry if there is a crack on the top of the cake. We’re about to prick the cake all over and then douse it in icing so that’s not a biggie. Plus, we’re baking wild west here. 🙂

Whiskey Glaze (Soaker Sauce):

Tools Needed for Whiskey Glaze:
Medium (soup-size) mixing bowl
Fork
Measuring cups and spoons
Toothpick (for piercing cakes)
Fine wire-mesh strainer

Ingredients for Whiskey Glaze:
4 Tablespoons (1/2 cube) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s whiskey

Directions for Whiskey Glaze:

Melt to liquid form in microwave and stir with a fork to smooth:
4 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Stir in until fully dissolved:
prepared melted butter
1 cup brown sugar (free of hard lumps)
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s Whiskey

Stir the ingredients for a few minutes in a soup-size bowl and let it rest on the counter for least five minutes to be sure the sugar dissolves and then stir it again, stir it good! 🙂

Tip: If you see any lumps in the sauce, please use a strainer to be certain there are no “brown sugar rocks” that didn’t absorb into the liquid. In fact, I highly recommend passing this sauce through a strainer because any granules at the bottom of the bowl will be present on the top of the cake.

Remove your lovely warm cakes from the oven. Now BREATHE in the aroma!

Poke holes in the warm cakes with a toothpick every 1/4 inch (about 50 pokes each cake),

Pour or brush small portions of the whiskey glaze over the tops of the cakes, repeating until all the glaze is absorbed.

Tip: I made about 5 passes of sauce over each cake, brushing, dabbing and dribbling little bits of the sauce until it was all gone — not using any small granules of sugar that might be left at the bottom of the bowl.

Cover each cake with aluminum foil and let them sit on the counter overnight (or at least 3 hours to absorb all that flavor).

Whiskey Icing (Frosting):

We seem to think the Cowboy Cake is good with just lightly sweetened whipped cream (beat 2 cups of heavy cream to soft peaks, then beat in 6 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of fine quality pure vanilla extract) but if you like your Cowboy Cake frosted, here’s a down home country whiskey icing that’ll do the trick…

Tools Needed for Whiskey Icing:
Small bowl (for melting butter)
Large bowl
Electric mixer
Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients for Whiskey Icing:
1 cup (2 cubes) unsalted butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s whiskey

Directions for Whiskey Icing:

Microwave for just a few seconds until “slightly room temperature” and mix with a fork to a consistency that is not entirely smooth with some soft butter lumps still remaining (to ensure that the butter is not too warm for this use):
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

In a mixer, beat on low-speed, increasing to medium speed:
the prepared softened butter
6 cups powdered sugar

SLOWLY drizzle in (reserving some to be sure of proper consistency) and beat on low increasing to high-speed until lightened:
1/2 cup Jack Daniel’s whiskey (substitute milk, cream or water here plus a teaspoon of vanilla)

The photo below shows the thick variety of Whiskey Icing (the consistency of thick buttercream) but if you want it runny or thinner, beat in some water, a teaspoon at a time. You can even thin it with more water and drizzle it over the cakes, letting it drip down the sides. That would be cute!

For service country-style, slice the cakes thick but not all the way down to the bottom (so they can open a bit for you to slap some Whiskey Icing (or sweet whipped cream) between the slices using a knife or a spoon. Then just sort of press them together a bit to hold their places in line like good little soldiers. Ha!

Hope you’ve enjoyed riding the kitchen range with me and good cheers to you and your family and friends!  Be sure to join us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest if you haven’t already.

Leslie

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