Sweets « The Runaway Spoon

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Brownies

The strawberries are here, but with the exceedingly strange weather we’ve been having this year, I am a little worried it is going to be an abbreviated season. So I have been making the most of what I have. I keep a big colander of berries in the fridge and snack on them throughout the day, I’ve put up jars of jam and I have been baking up a storm. I love this too-brief interlude when I have strawberries every day, before I say goodbye to fresh ones until next season.

I love strawberries and chocolate and have been working on a way to combine the two in a fun and simple brownie. So I added some berries to my basic brownie recipe and covered it in a sweet, creamy strawberry frosting. And darned if doesn’t taste like the fancy chocolate covered berries famous around here. I added a little drizzle of melted chocolate to pretty them up. Dip some berries in the extra melted chocolate for a nice decorative touch.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Brownies

½ cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup finely diced strawberries

For the Frosting:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3 cups confectioners sugar

¼ cup mashed strawberries

For the Drizzle:

3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line an 8 by 8 inch pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat or in a large bowl in the microwave. Don’t let the butter boil or foam, just melt it. Leave to cool slightly.

Stir the sugar and vanilla into the butter, then add the eggs and stir until well combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and stir until completely combined. Fold in the strawberries, distributing them evenly.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan.

For the frosting:

Beat the butter until creamy in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Slowly beat in the sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the mashed berries alternately with the sugar until the frosting is creamy, smooth and spreadable. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting evenly over the top of the brownies. Chill the frosted brownies until the frosting is firm.

For the Drizzle:

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a small microwave bowl. Microwave at high power for one minute, then stir until smooth. If needed, zap in 15 minute intervals, stirring after each burst, until melted and smooth. Use a fork to drizzle the chocolate over the chilled frosting.

Makes 16 brownies

*Dice the berries into small pieces and place in a measuring jug. Mash with a fork until juicy and the pieces are small. Beating in the mixer will bash them up a bit more.

Hot Milk Cake and Strawberry Caramel Sauce

Leaf through the pages of any old Southern community cookbook, and you are likely to come across a version of this cake. And it might not draw your eye, being so plain and simple. I am sure I flipped past many times before I actually stopped to read one. But once I get intrigued, I search these recipes out and combine, refine and test them until I have an updated version with more accurate instructions. And I am glad I didn’t let this one languish, because it is now a go to summer cake. It is immensely simple to make – no heavy equipment needed. And its simplicity makes it the perfect vehicle for all manner of summer toppings. Any sliced fresh fruit or berry, maybe sugared to produce a little syrup. Add a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream and you’ve got a fresh, homemade beauty of a dessert.

I planned this post to highlight the cake, and how useful it is. But I wanted to try something a little more interesting than just fruit so I stumbled around in the kitchen until I came up with the sauce. I know it is tooting my own horn, but it is a stunner. Rich, sticky caramel sauce with this amazing background note of strawberry and the added bonus of chunks of fresh berries. It is magnificent with the cake, but try it over ice cream, or, as I admit to doing, simply with a spoon.

Hot Milk Cake and Strawberry Caramel Sauce

I use a plain tube pan, often called a coffee cake pan, but a fluted or fancy one works just fine. You could also make it in a 9 by 13 inch pan.

Hot Milk Cake

1 cup whole milk

½ cup (1 stick) butter

4 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 10-cup tube pan thoroughly.

Combine the milk and butter in a medium saucepan and heat over medium just until the butter is melted and the milk is hot. While the milk is heating, beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour in the hot milk and stir until completely combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden and firm and tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 – 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely. The cake will keep, well wrapped, for several days.

Serves 10

Strawberry Caramel Sauce

1 cup of diced strawberries

1 ½ cups granulated sugar, plus 2 Tablespoons

¾ cup heavy cream

Place the diced strawberries in a bowl and toss with 2 Tablespoons sugar. Leave to sit for several hours until the strawberries have released quite a bit of juice.

Pour the juice off the berries into a measuring jug and add enough water to make 1/3 cup of liquid. Stir the liquid and 1 ½ cups sugar together in a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Up the heat to high and boil the mixture until it turns a lovely caramel brown, the color of sweet tea, about 5 – 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Watch it like a hawk because it goes from caramel to burnt quickly at the end. Stand back a bit and pour in the cream. It will roil and bubble furiously and seize up a little. Just stir it until it all smooths out and combines, then turn the burner off and stir until it settles down. Let it cool for about 3 minutes, then stir in the diced strawberries. Cool to room temperature.

The sauce will keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Delicious warm or cold.

Makes about 1 ½ cups

Lavish Lemon Cake

When you are the cook in the family, the special task of creating family celebration meals falls to you. It is an honor and a privilege and one I take very seriously. I always pay attention to what my family members like (and don’t) and my favorite kitchen task is devising and creating meals or treats that will surprise and delight them. When the whole family is gathered around the table, sharing favorite dishes, my heart is full to bursting.

I created this cake for my mother, who loves, loves lemon. I have piled on every level of lemon flavor I can think of. Luscious lemon curd is her favorite, so I’ve filled the cake with it. The cake itself is packed with lemon flavor and the sweet glaze is like sugary lemonade. A sparkling shower of crushed lemon drops adds crunch (which Mom also loves), lip-puckering sweetness and a pretty shimmer.

Lavish Lemon Cake

3 lemons

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar plus 2 Tablespoons

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup lemon curd, homemade or purchased

1 ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

lemon drop candies for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, or spray with Bakers’ Joy.

Grate the zest from one of the lemons and set aside. Juice all the lemons.

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light. Add 2 cups of sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and ¼ cup of the lemon juice and beat until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda alternately with the buttermilk until everything is completely combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Scoop half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out to an even surface. Drag the back of a spoon through the center of the batter in a circle to make a small trough. Carefully spoon the lemon curd into the trough, doing your best to keep it from the sides of the pan. Carefully cover with the remaining batter, gently spreading it to cover the lemon curd. Do not worry if some of the curd reaches the sides of the pan; just do your best.

While the cake is cooking, whisk together a further 2 Tablespoons of juice and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Stir it a couple of times while the cake is baking, but the sugar will not completely dissolve.

Bake the cake for 45- 50 minutes until a tester inserted in the center come out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a platter. Cut thin strips of waxed paper and place around the edged of the cake. This will pick up any drips from glazing ; just remove them when done and your platter is clean and ready to go. Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a skewer or a toothpick. Brush the lemon sugar glaze over the cake with a pastry brush. Go slowly and let it absorb. Leave the cake to cool.

When the cake is completely cool, mix the confectioners’ sugar with 2 Tablespoons lemon juice until you have a thick glaze. Spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Place a handful of lemon drops in a heavy plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.

Serves 10 – 12

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Truffle Tart

Peanut butter and chocolate are one of nature’s great flavor combinations. But part of the great parental anomalies of my childhood. My Dad doesn’t like it. That was, and still is, difficult for me to understand. It was as much a mystery to me as all those great questions that were answered with “because I said so”. After all, how could a man who eats tiny, oily, smelly fish from a can not like a peanut butter cup? I used to require warning so I could go outside and play before he opened a can of sardines. He eats everything – veal sweetbreads are his favorite dish. We have always joked that he orders the one thing on any menu that no one else ever does. But no chocolate and peanut butter. Inconceivable!

The filling for this tart is long been a go-to dessert for me because it so easy and quick and decadently rich. I’ve poured it into all sorts of different crusts, but when this idea came to me, I knew it would be a winner. Peanut buttery cookies on the bottom and a sprinkling of crushed peanut brittle on top. This combines kitsch and elegance in one fabulously rich dessert.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Truffle Tart

Splurge on some high-quality chocolate for this three-ingredient filling. I buy peanut brittle with the hanging bags of candy at a grocery or drugstore. If you can’t find it, crush the remaining cookies for the top.

For the Crust:

24 Nutter Butter cookies

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

For the Filling:

15 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¾ cup heavy cream

3 ounces peanut brittle, for topping

For the Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Crush the Nutter Butter cookies to fine crumbs. I prefer to do this in the food processor, but you can also bash them up in a heavy-duty ziptop bag with a rolling pin. Add the melted butter and process or stir until you have a mixture like damp sand. Press the crumbs on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart tin with a removable bottom. Make sure there are no holes in your crust. Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool completely.

For the Filling:

Place the chocolate in the carafe of a blender and add the vanilla extract. Pour the heavy cream into a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Immediately pour it over the chocolate in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top. Chill the pie, uncovered, in the refrigerator for three hours. At this point, you can loosely cover the tart with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge overnight.

Before serving, crush the peanut brittle into small pieces in a heavy-duty ziptop bag. Remove the outer ring from the tart pan and leave to soften slightly, about 30 minutes, before sprinkling the peanut brittle dust over the top and slicing.

Serves 8

Eggnog Pie

I considered calling this Christmas Panic Pie. It is the perfect recipe to have in your pocket for the busy holidays. It is simple, requires a few ingredients you can easily have on hand and can be dressed up elegantly or served simply. During the holidays, I always have a carton of eggnog in the fridge. It is one of my favorite holiday flavors and ingredients, and stashing some store bought pie crust rolls in the fridge or freezer means a delicious dessert is minutes away. Serve it for dessert at an impromptu family dinner, take it to the office party you forgot about, make it in a disposable pan, wrap it in cellophane tied with a ribbon and instant hostess gift. And if you are tasked with providing dessert for a huge crowd, it is easy to make pie after pie in a flash.

Serve this pie straight up, or pipe a decorative trim of whipped cream around the edges. Sugared cranberries would be a beautiful garnish. I say this serves eight, but when there are other sweets on offer, slender slices are enough.

Eggnog Pie

Pastry for one 9-inch pie, homemade or store bought ready-to-roll

½ cup (1 stick) butter

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon nutmeg, plus more for sprinkling

1 ½ cups refrigerated dairy eggnog

Preheat the oven to 425°. Fit the pastry into a 9-inch pie plate.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool to room temperature. When the butter is cool, whisk the eggs in a large bowl until lightly beaten. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg and whisk until combined. Pour in the butter and whisk thoroughly. Add the eggnog in a drizzle while whisking until the filling is smooth and everything is fully incorporated.

Pour the filling into the crust and use a sharp pointed knife to pop any large air bubbles that form. Shape a piece of aluminum foil to fit over the pie before you transfer it to the oven, but put the pie in the oven uncovered at first. Sprinkle a little nutmeg over the top of the filling.

Bake the pie at 425° for 12 – 15 minutes, then cover the pie with the prepared foil and lower the heat to 325°. Continue baking until the filling is set, 30 – 35 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and cool completely. I prefer to chill the pie overnight, but it can be eaten at room temperature.

Serves 8

Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes

Last year, I posted a recipe for Peppermint Black Bottom Cupcakes, a nifty seasonal twist on a classic recipe and family favorite. Well, as I started to think about Christmas treats for this season, I decided to take that classic recipe and try another twist – fun, rich, colorful red velvet. Red Velvet Black Bottom is not a great name, so I call these surprise cupcakes because of the creamy white chocolate bits hidden in the center. A delicious, prettily wrapped Christmas present.

Yes, you really do need the whole bottle of food coloring to get the vivid red, otherwise it will be a muddy, dull shade. Be careful of a fresh manicure with the food coloring though, it is hard to get off. And yes, these may turn your tongue a little crimson, but that’s half the fun. Kids and adults alike love these festive treats, and they are a perfect make-ahead, portable party delight. Stored in an airtight container, they will last for days. I can see these as a lovely gift, wrapped in cellophane, tied with a green ribbon. The cupcakes are pretty enough to serve as decoration on their own.

Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar, divided

1 large egg

1 cup white chocolate morsels

1 ½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Fold in the white chocolate morsels. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar, the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Stir together the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla and red food coloring in a measuring jug, then pour into the well. Stir just until the batter is mixed. Spoon the batter evenly between the 16 muffin cups, filling each half-full. Spoon a heaping Tablespoon of the cream cheese filling over the batter in the cups.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean and the cream cheese filling is set. Cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then remove to cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 16 cupcakes

Homemade Fruitcake

I love fruit cake. I know, I know, I am in the minority. Fruit cake is one of the most maligned and made fun of foods out there. We’ve all heard the jokes about the one fruit cake that actually exists, but is re-gifted around the country year after year. I think the only thing some people like about the gift of fruit cake is the handy tin it comes in, great for storing cookies the rest of the year. I remember those red tins, with the Currier and Ives style Christmas scene printed on the top. We stored cookies and our favorite family snack mix in them.

But really, I love fruit cake, even the one that comes in the red tin, or the little loaves wrapped in cellophane. My mom and I are the only ones in the family who truly like fruit cake, and every year we used to buy a small store bought cake and eat it on our own. But a really good fruit cake, homemade with love, is a different thing all together. Rich and dark, sweet and sticky, spicy and boozy. After spending time in England, I came to appreciate their traditional Christmas desserts, all in the fruitcake mode – Christmas pudding, topped with flaming brandy and a sprig of holly, Christmas cake, a rich fruitcake topped with marzipan and fondant and fancifully decorated, and mincemeat pies, made with a fruity, fatty filling. And I remember fruit cake from my childhood, probably from a tin, always served with boiled custard, the Southern version of egg nog.

So it only seemed right that I learn to make a good fruit cake. I’ve worked on this for years, starting with English recipes, modifying with some ideas from old Southern community cookbooks, and adding my own touches and flavors. Lots of ginger, no nuts. And I feed my cake with Cherry Bounce, the cherry-infused bourbon I put up when the fruit is in season, just for this purpose. In England, they mark “Stir-Up Sunday,” a day especially for making the Christmas cakes that need the long feeding and resting time. It’s the last Sunday before advent and based, I am told, on a line from the Book of Common prayer, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded.” This day falls around Thanksgiving for us, so the long weekend is a great time to start your cake.

I understand some people have an objection to candied citron, so replace it with mixed candied fruit if you’d prefer. Mixed spice is a blend of cinnamon, coriander, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice and mace. It’s traditionally used in British Christmas cooking and adds a really interesting note to fruit cake. If you can’t find it, use pumpkin pie spice instead.

Homemade Fruitcake

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup crystallized ginger pieces

½ cup candied orange peel

½ cup candied citron

½ cup candied mixed fruit

1 cup chopped candied cherries

Zest and juice of one navel orange

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

2 teaspoons mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice

1 ½ cups white sugar

1 cup milk

¾ cup butter

2 2/3 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 ½ cups bourbon, brandy or Cherry Bounce

Put the dried and candied fruits in a large saucepan with the orange zest and juice, grated ginger and mixed spice. Add the butter, milk and sugar and heat over medium until the butter has melted. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a 9-inch round cake tin with parchment paper on the bottom and the sides.

Sift together the flour and baking soda and stir into the cooled fruit mixture. Beat in the eggs, then scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake the cake for 1 – 1 ½ hours, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean (after the first hour, check every 10 minutes). The cake should be quite firm. Cover the pan with a clean tea towel while it cools to keep it moist.

When the cake is cool, remove it from the pan and peel off the paper. Cut 2 pieces of foil long enough wrap the cake and lay them in a cross on the counter. Cut two pieces of waxed paper to fit over the foil. Place the cake in the center and bring the sides up to wrap. Place the wrapped cake in a cake tin or plastic container. You can also fit it back into the cleaned cake pan and cover the whole with a double layer of extra foil. Store the cake on the counter in a cool place somewhere that you will see it and remember to feed it.

Starting when you put the cooled cake in the tin, twice every week for 3 – 4 weeks, unwrap the top of the cake and poke holes in it with a thin skewer or toothpick. Drizzle ¼ cup of bourbon over the top of the cake and leave it unwrapped for about 10 minutes while the liquor to soaks in. Re-wrap the cake, put the lid on the tin and leave until next time. I put a post it note on the tin to remind myself when I last fed the cake.

Slice into thin slices and enjoy.

Serves 8 – 12, depending on how much people like fruitcake!

Butternut Squash Pie with Sorghum Whipped Cream

Butternut squash is one of my favorite fall foods. I buy whole squashes at the last farmers markets, and when I see pre-cut pieces in the store, I buy those up too. I make pasta sauces and quick soups, I roast and mash. Get creative and go simple. I generally find myself with a surfeit of squash as I tend to get a little over-excited when they are in season. As I write this, I see there are three large squashes on my counter, and I know there is some leftover soup in the refrigerator.

Though butternut has its own unique flavor, I frequently use it interchangeably with pumpkin and even sweet potato, so I wondered how it would work in a pie, would it just be the same as standard pumpkin or sweet potato, or would there be a difference? And a little bit to my surprise, there is a quite a difference. Butternut squash is earthier, sweet, but with a rougher edge. I worked with my basic recipe and added woodsy, warm spices that really highlight the unique flavor of the butternut, particularly aromatic clove. This pie turns out a beautiful dark umber color, rich from the spices and squash. A dollop of whipped cream, flavored but not overly sweetened with grassy sorghum is a perfect accompaniment. Serve this at Thanksgiving, or any autumn meal. I promise, your guests will be surprised and intrigued – and pleased.

Butternut Squash Pie with Sorghum Whipped Cream

For the Pie:

Pastry for one 9-inch pie, homemade or store bought ready-to-roll

1 ½ pound butternut squash

2 eggs

1 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon bourbon

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For the Sorghum Whipped Cream:

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon sorghum

For the Pie:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place a piece of foil on the rack of the oven (to catch drips) and place the butternut squash on top. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to an hour, until it is completely soft when you squeeze it (wearing an oven mitt of course). Remove the squash from the oven, and holding it with a folded tea towel, cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds and fibers and discard, then scrape the flesh into a wire mesh strainer set over a bowl. Make sure there is no skin attached. Using a spatula, press the flesh through the strainer completely. There are no solids left behind. This will give you a smooth purée perfect for pie. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Fit the pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming the edges as necessary. Line the crust with waxed paper and fill with beans or pie weights and blind bake the crust for 10 minutes until partially cooked. Remove the paper and weights and set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs and sugar together with a whisk. Add the cooled squash purée, the heavy cream, the bourbon and the spices. Beat until everything is thoroughly combined and smooth. Scrape the filling into the pie shell and bake for 50 – 55 minutes, until the center is set with just a little wobble to it. Shield the edges of the pie crust to prevent overbrowning about halfway through the cooking. Cool the pie completely, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.

Serve chilled with a dollop of Sorghum whipped cream.

Serves 6

For the Whipped Cream:

Pour the sorghum and the cream into a small bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat the cream to stiff peaks form. Serve immediately.

Makes ½ cup

Spiced Cider Pound Cake

Growing up in the South, fall was always just a short little respite from the heat, before the dull, dark cold winter. The leaves turn quickly and fall fast. The weather is only really sweater-worthy for a few days. The mass-marketed Halloween costumes were always hideously hot, and eating outside on Thanksgiving is usually a possibility. I love everything about fall. Autumn colors, falling leaves, pumpkins, warming meals, the nip in the air. But I never really realized the true glory of Fall until I started college in Connecticut. I suddenly understood why people would take leaf-viewing car trips, and those preppy catalogs and magazine shots now made sense. I took those leaf-viewing drives myself, driving through picturesque towns awash in amber, gold and russet. I bought apples at road-side stands, and finally wrapped myself in soft sweaters, fashionable jackets and colorful scarfs.

And it was on these exploratory fall jaunts that I was introduced to real apple cider, a world away from the apple juice I grew up with. I loved hot cups of cider with a cinnamon stick and warm, cake doughnuts served at those roadside stands to keep the hands and heart warm.

Real apple cider is now available readily here, and I enjoy it to the fullest. A nice warm mug is a special warming treat, and I use it to make French Onion Soup, to jazz up my family favorite Waffles and Hash and in the classic Thanksgiving sweet potatoes. And it is wonderful for baking. For this lovely, rich pound cake, I boil the cider down to concentrate its apple-y essence. I think this cake is perfect on its own, unglazed, the cider flavor really shines. But it can easily be topped with a rich caramel glaze or a rummy version or an old-fashioned buttermilk glaze.

Spiced Cider Pound Cake

2 cups fresh apple cider

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups white sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Boil the apple cider in a medium pot until it is reduced by half, yielding one cup. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t boil over. Leave the cider to cool completely.

Thoroughly grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, or use a baking spray like Bakers’ Joy. (The decorative pan I used for the picture is a 10–cup pan, so I filled it almost to the top, then had a little bonus mini-cake).

Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add the sugars and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl, then add the spices and blend with a fork until everything is combined. Lower the mixer speed and add the flour and reduced cider alternately in three additions, ending with the cider. Beat well after each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.

Scrape the batter into the well-greased pan and tap it on the counter a few times to even it out a remove any air bubbles. Put the cake into a cold oven and cook it at 325° for 50 – 65 minutes, until it is puffed and golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

The cake will keep for 2 days wrapped in plastic wrap.

Serves 10

Jack and Coke Cake (Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake with Jack Daniels Buttercream)

I am not much of layer cake maker. I have failed to master that great Southern skill of crafting magnificent layers of frosted beauty. I am more of Bundt cake type. I lack the artistic talents, but mostly the patience, to create the magazine worthy, bakery perfect confections someone who spends as much time cooking as I do should have mastered. There is a reason the picture above is of a slice, not a whole cake. But to be honest, that’s okay with me. When I spend a good bit of time in the kitchen creating, I want people to know I made it. I like a cake that’s a little wonky, a little off center. So that it looks clearly homemade.

When this idea hit me though, I knew I had to break out the palette knife and get to frosting. The cake is a classic, old-fashioned Coke cake, without the mini-marshmallows, adapted for a layer cake. The frosting is pillowy and rich with that good ol’ Tennessee sour mash whiskey.

This is the cake for a sophisticated adult birthday party. I think it would be a wonderful dessert for Thanksgiving, though be aware that the frosting is definitely spiked, so decide if you want the little ones to eat it. And if you’re final product is a little off-kilter, that’s okay. Folks may just think you were nippin’ off the bottle in the kitchen!

Jack and Coke Cake (Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake with Jack Daniels Buttercream)

For the Cake:

1 cup Coca-Cola

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup (1 stick) butter

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 (2-pound) package of confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup Jack Daniels

3 – 5 Tablespoons Coca-Cola

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans (or use a baking spray like Baker’s Joy).

Mix the flour, sugar and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Combine the Coke, oil, butter and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to melt the butter. When the butter is melted, bring the mixture to a boil. With the mixer running on low, pour the boiling mixture into the flour and beat until well combined, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and increasing the speed to medium as the flour is combined. Leave the mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.

With the mixer running on medium add the buttermilk and vanilla, beating until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in thoroughly. Add the baking soda and beat until it is completely mixed in.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. I like to pour the batter into a four cup measuring jug, and evenly measure out the amount of batter in each pan (this makes close to 6 cups batter, so I do it in two batches).

Bake the cakes for 25- 30 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until soft and fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar while the mixer is on a lower speed, scrapping the sides of the bowl as needed. When most of the sugar has been added, begin drizzling in the whiskey, scraping the sides of the bowl. When all the sugar and whiskey is blended end, add the Coke a Tablespoon at a time until you have a nice spreadable consistency.

Spread the frosting between the two cake layers and on the top and sides.

Serves 10

More from the Spoon