Lime Bundt Cake

It seems we've turned the corner. Though I'm generally a fan of winter, there is something that happens on that first warm short-sleeved day when we remember what we've been missing the past four months.

On the first day of spring, I was driving west through the mountains on the way back from the Appalachian Studies Association Conference in charming Shepherdstown. In the higher elevations, there was a light, blustery snow which turned to a cold rain as I neared home. I was exhausted and my head was spinning from the whirlwind of ideas and work shared at the conference. I kept coming back, in particular, to the presentation from my friend and filmmaker Tijah Bumgarner about the multiple emerging alternative narratives in Appalachia in the aftermath of the master narrative of coal. Her work on the diverse narratives and changes in the cultural landscape brought on by artists, writers, and filmmakers working in the region prompted me to consider how we are essentially also (re)creating or reimagining another distinct narrative through the work of the West Virginia Folklife Program. This is inevitably being created in the context of our oral histories, documentation, and programming that makes space for and gives voice to the everyday creative and cultural expression of West Virginians.

Certainly, I've been circling around that idea since I started here in November, and in a broad sense since I started studying and working in folklore, but framing it in the context of a narrative, or even as a distinct "text," helped me to conceive of the potential meaning-making and interpretation of this work. It's a helpful lens for me, former English major and teacher that I am, and brings more intention to my everyday tasks.



So while the first day of spring had us in a brief relapse in terms of weather and found me in a state of fatigue from a long week, it also brought a new perspective, not only from the conference, but in the active focus of my work. I've moved from a place of forging relationships and infrastructure, to being able to build on those contacts so that I can now step out into local communities with at least some known points of reference.

I had the day off on Monday, which provided the space to crystalize all I took in and settle back into my daily life in Charleston. Baking, as I've said before, is that process that grounds me in place. After so much socializing over the weekend, I didn't want to go out, so set on making something from what I had on hand at home. That turned out to be limes leftover from the Atlantic Beach Pie I'd made for Pi(e) Day, and other basic ingredients, coming together in this Lime Bundt Cake. I used some 1/3 coconut flour I'd received from Arrowhead Mills, and because I didn't have buttermilk, substituted in coconut milk leftover from another Pi(e) Day creation. I don't see why you couldn't use all coconut flour in this recipe if you wanted to go gluten-free. The cake was both moist and dense, tasted surprisingly of Fruit Loops, and offered that hint of green for the turn of seasons.

Lime Bundt Cake

Adapted from Life in the Lofthouse

Ingredients
For cake:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lime zest
3 eggs
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups full-fat coconut milk

For glaze:
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
1/2 Tablespoon full-fat coconut milk
Lime zest and shredded coconut (optional)

Directions
1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour bundt pant and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and lime zest on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add lime juice until incorporated.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flours, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add this dry mixture to wet mixture, alternating with the coconut milk.

3. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread evenly. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

4. Remove cake from oven. Let cake rest 10 minutes in pan, then invert to a cooling rack. Let cake cool completely while you prepare the glaze.

5. For the glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, lime juice, and coconut milk until smooth and no lumps remain. When cake is completely cool, drizzle glaze on top. Garnish with lime zest and shredded coconut, if desired. Slice cake and serve.



Related recipes:
Atlantic Beach Pie
Key Lime Pie Popsicles
Lime and Raspberry Italian Meringue Pie
Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

Chocolate Almond Snow Day Cake

I'm currently camped out at my friends' house, stretched out on the couch as I look out the window to a foot of snow on the ground, with much more on the way. I've got a stack of books at my feet, a to-do list on my lap, and between my house and theirs, a stockpile of beer, wine, and ingredients for lemon bars, brownie pie, pepperoni rolls, bourbon snow creams, and leftover gumbo. In my living room, new-to-me cross-country skis are waiting to be waxed and balls of yarn are ready to be knit into a cardigan. There's something about a snow day stretched ahead of me that inspires a childlike possibility-- the hours seem longer, the neighborhood suddenly becomes a mysterious world to explore, and creations-- whether edible, textile, or otherwise-- beg to be created.

I won't linger here long in favor of all the snow day left to be lived, but I remembered this cake I made over the holidays and it struck me as a perfect wintery weather-bound project. Hearty, rich, and not too fussy, it's just the thing I'd want to pair with one of those bourbon snow creams after skiing the city streets. Most of the ingredients are those you're likely to have at home, and you could substitute the almonds for other nuts-- I imagine hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts would all do the trick. When I made this at Christmas, my mom cut out a paper snowflake, which I put on the cake to use as a stencil for a powdered sugar dusting-- another worthy snow bound endeavor.

Chocolate Almond Cake

Adapted from Nigel Slater via The Guardian

Ingredients
7 ounces (200g) fine dark chocolate (60% or more)
1 ounce hot espresso or very strong coffee
14 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces almond meal (or finely ground almonds)

Directions
1. Butter and line 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl over gently simmering water. As soon as the chocolate begins to melt, pour the hot espresso or coffee over it.  Drop the cubed butter into the chocolate and coffee, but do not stir.

3.  Keeping an eye on the chocolate, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

4. Separate the eggs, dropping the egg whites into a large bowl and the yolks into a separate small bowl. Whisk the whites till they are thick and stiff then quickly but gently fold in the sugar with a large metal or wooden spoon and set aside.

5. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and stir to dissolve the remaining butter. Mix the egg yolks together then stir quickly into the chocolate, just until the ingredients come together. Fold the chocolate mixture firmly but gently into the egg whites and sugar.

6. Lightly fold in the flour and cocoa mixture, followed by the almond meal. Work slowly and firmly but lightly, making sure to not over mix. Transfer the batter into the greased and lined cake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool, then decorate with powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy!

Related recipes:
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Chess Pie
Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Last year I wrote about the origins of the native cranberry and the cultural history of the fruit in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, as studied by Mary Hufford for the American Folklife Center. Now that I'm in West Virginia, I've been learning more about the cranberry glades here in the state-- in Monongahela National Forest and Dolly Sodds Wilderness. On New Years Eve when I was making a a lemon layer cake with cranberry curd and garnish, and my new friend Emily told me that she had harvested some cranberries in Tucker County this year, where Dolly Sodds is located. I assumed that they were the small wild cranberries I had seen up in Maine this September, but she said those she harvested were just as big as the store-bought variety I was using on the cake.

I'm looking forward to being in West Virginia for cranberry season this year, but for this Cranberry Upside Down Cake, I used more of the regular store-bought variety. Cranberries are my favorite thing to bake with in the wintertime-- their tartness is a pie baker's dream and their red hue is a welcome bright spot during winter's doldrums. I highly recommend stockpiling cranberries in your freezer when you can-- they don't always stick around in grocery stores past Christmas.

This cake, adapted from David Lebovitz, uses the pineapple upside down cake/tarte tatin principle, in which the fruit is caramelized in sugar over the stove, the batter or crust is poured over top, and the dessert is baked upside down in the same pan, then flipped so the fruit sits atop. Like ripping off a bandaid, it's best the flip is done in one swift motion and with courage.

I made this for Christmas dessert this year, along with a Lemon Chess Pie and Nigel Slater's Chocolate Almond Cake. It was a big hit, especially with my dad, who I still don't think has forgiven my mom and me for leaving the leftovers at our friends' house the next day.



Cranberry Upside Down Cake
Adapted only slightly from David Lebovitz

Ingredients
For the topping:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 cups (1 bag) fresh or frozen cranberries

For the cake batter:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Grated zest of 1 small orange or lemon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions
1. For the topping: Place the butter and brown sugar in a 9- or 10-inch skillet over low heat. Mix and melt together, stirring constantly until the sugar is liquified. When the mixture begins to bubble, remove from heat and set aside.

2. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, cream the 1/2 cup of butter, granulated sugar, and citrus zest on medium-high for 3-5 minutes until very light and fluffy. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs one at a time, stopping in between to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract.

4. On low-speed, add half of the flour mixture, the milk, and then the remaining flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix.

5. Evenly distribute the cranberries in the cast-iron skillet over the brown sugar mixture (You may need to re-heat the mixture on low if it has solidified). Pour the batter over the cranberries, then use a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed over the berries.

6. Bake the cake until the "top" is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and after 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the cake. Place a cake plate over the top of the skillet and flip onto the plate (have courage!) until the cake releases from the pan. Serve cake warm and enjoy.

Related recipes:
Chocolate Cranberry Chess Pie
Cranberry Chess Pie
Cranberry Pie
Pear Tarte Tatin

Sweet Pea Cake with Lemon Buttercream + a Spring Lunch

As I've mentioned before, Rose's Luxury, with their Eggplant Tarte Tatin, Smoked Celery Mascarpone, and my favorite-- an English Pea Cake, has really opened my eyes into the exciting possibilities of vegetable-based desserts. While Aaron Silverman and crew certainly give these treats their own creative spin, these are not without their roots in traditional American and British baking. Of course, there's carrot cake and pumpkin pie, but I've also seen less common selections in old cookbooks-- Tomato Soup Cakes, Carrot Pie, Fannie Farmer's Caramel Potato Cake, and this Pretty Black Eyed Pea Cake-- a spice cake variety that's distinctly southern. There isn't much information about the cultural history of such desserts readily available, but it's a genre I'm planning to explore more.




This Sweet Pea Cake with Lemon Buttercream is British in tone (and not just because it's adapted from the UK blog Veggie Desserts)-- I imagine it as a perfect al fresco tea time accompaniment. It's a little more classic and oriented for the home baker than Rose's Luxury's pudding-like variety with mint curd and buttermilk cream. But in both, the pea purée makes the cake dreamily moist with a shocking green hue, while the pea shoots and other fresh greens position it squarely in the season of SPRING, no matter when you're actually eating it.




I baked this for a little luncheon with Morgan (of Panda Head Blog) and illustrator Elizabeth Graeber. Elizabeth and I both have birthdays in April, so we were doing double duty--picking up our collaboration series again as well as celebrating with a colorful spring meal.

Morgan made the zingiest Salmon with Lemon over Greens for our main course, and fresh radishes with butter and salt held us over while we snapped the obligatory photos and iced the cake. Big thanks to the P St. Whole Foods for offering up most of these ingredients.

Sweet Pea Cake with Lemon Buttercream

Adapted from Veggie Desserts

Makes a 9'' 2-layer cake

Ingredients
For the pea cake:
3 cups fresh or frozen peas
18 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

For the lemon buttercream:
2/3 cup (11 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

To finish:
pea shoots and/or microgreens
edible flowers

Directions
For the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and line two 9” cake pans (or three 6” pans) with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover the peas, bring peas to a boil for 3 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water. Place peas in the bowl of a food processor and puree until completely smooth. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, whisking gently to combine. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the cooled pea puree, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice. On low-medium speed, add the flour mixture just until incorporated.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pans, spreading batter evenly and leveling. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

For the lemon buttercream:
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the butter until fluffy. Add in the confectioner's sugar and beat at least 3 minutes. Beat in the zest and a little of the lemon juice. Add more lemon juice as needed to make it a spreadable frosting consistency and beat to combine. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To assemble:
1. Spread the buttercream between the layers of the completely cooled cakes and sandwich together. Cover the cake in the remaining buttercream and decorate with pea shoots, microgreens and edible flowers.

Find Elizabeth's brilliant related illustrations (including the menu) at Food on Paper and visit Panda Head Blog for more of Morgan's photos and the recipe for Salmon with Lemon over Swiss Chard.

Related recipes:

Pea & Corn Cookies

Pecan Layer Cake with Salted Caramel Filling and Vanilla Buttercream

Lemon Lavender Meringue Pie Cookies

Lemon Meringue Pie Cake

Photos by Morgan Hungerford West (except for 1 & 8-- I took those!)

Illustrations by Elizabeth Graeber

Sally's Lemon Meringue Pie Cake

This post comes from my dear friend Sally Anne Morgan of Asheville, NC (you may remember her from her previous guest post). Sally is an old-time fiddler-- with The Black Twig Pickers and otherwise, guitar player, and singer, as well as a talented artist (as evidenced by the above "multimedia" visual). She also runs the letterpress company Ratbee Press and Design, and bakes a fine pie, cake, and as it turns out, also pie cake! She made this lemon confection for our third annual women's old-time musician's retreat last month. More from Sally....

Last week, I packed up my fiddle, guitar, bottle of Elijah Craig, selection of vinyl records, and KitchenAid mixer to head to Wingina, Virginia for our third annual Women’s Weekend. In Wingina. Yes. As always, it was a time of celebration, empowerment, music and merry making, and lots and lots of talking and eating.

One of my contributions to the culinary spread was a layer cake. I must admit I messed up the steps in mixing the cake batter, which resulted in a slightly denser cake than I was aiming for. I’ll blame my mistakes on the fact that I was trying to sing harmony with the lovely Lorie while reading the recipe off my I-phone and operating the stand mixer, all at once. But the fluffiness of the meringue topping and delightful tartness of the lemon curd filling made up for it. 

Originally I wanted to make a pink strawberry cake with whipped cream because, Wingina. But I ended up cobbling this recipe together as several of us have dairy allergies or sensitivities. It uses butter, which was okay with everyone, and lots and lots of eggs, but no cream or milk. Plus, lemons seemed more seasonally appropriate, and I have always loved Lemon Meringue Pie (this is essentially the cake version). And I love that my mouth puckers even when thinking of lemons.



Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lemon Curd and Meringue Icing

Lemon Curd
Adapted from Fine Cooking

Make this the day before you plan to bake the cake, or the morning of.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions
1. The trick to this recipe is to use the electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes, then slowly add the eggs and yolks. Beat for about a minute. Mix in the lemon juice. It will look curdled but should smooth out as it cooks. (Some recipes don’t call for beating it all together beforehand, which results in uneven cooking of the eggs, and then you need to strain it all)

2. For the next step, you need to stir constantly. In a medium sized saucepan, cook over low heat until it looks smooth as the butter melts. Increase to medium heat, keep stirring. It takes about 15 minutes until it is thick and reaches about 170 degrees. Don’t let it boil.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest. Pour into a mason jar and chill in the refrigerator. It will thicken more as it cools.

Lemon Chiffon Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large egg yolks at room temperature
8 large egg whites at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper or newspaper.

2. Sift the flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder and salt together twice into a large bowl.

3. Using your mixer, beat the yolks, water, oil, zest and vanilla on high speed until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture until smooth. In another large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat on high speed until the peaks are stiff but not dry.

4. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Do so gently, only until the egg whites are no longer visible. Overdoing it will deflate the egg whites, and yield a denser, shorter cake.

5. Pour the batter into the cake pans and spread evenly. Bake them until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Check every five minutes after the first thirty minutes.

6. Let cakes cool for at least an hour. When completely cool, run a knife around the sides to release, then flip out onto a plate. If the cake rises too much in the oven, after it is cooled, using a very sharp knife or a good serrated knife, cut off the domed top to make a flat surface. I secretly like doing this because I can taste the cake before everyone else.

Meringue Icing & Cake Assembly

I looked up several recipes for a topping for the cake before deciding the one from this recipe. I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but it got amazingly fluffy, light,  and voluminous, and was really really easy! The egg whites as basically raw, so be sure to use non-factory farm eggs.

I was unsure of how well this topping would hold up over time, as I assembled the cake a couple hours before it was served. It held up just fine for probably 4-5 hours. By the next morning when some of us wanted cake for breakfast, it looked slightly worse for wear-- not too bad, but a tiny bit deflated. Just keep this in mind – you can’t assemble this cake a whole day in advance.

Ingredients
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and dash of salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 240° (about 4 minutes).

 2. Combine cream of tartar and 3 egg whites in large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating at high speed until medium peaks form (this took several minutes)

3. Gradually pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg white mixture, beating first at medium speed and then at high speed until stiff peaks form. Beat in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

4. Assembling the cake:  With the cake fully cooled, and topping and filling both ready, place one of your two layers on a plate or cake stand, and cut strips of parchment paper to put around it (this will make cleaning up topping that drips much easier).

5. Fold about ½ a cup of the meringue into 1 cup of the lemon curd, and slather on the bottom cake layer using a spatula. Gently place the second cake layer on top, and cover with meringue. You can load the topping on pretty thick at the top if you want, I think mine was about 1 1/2 inches high at the center. Smooth with a spatula.

Note: If you're the kind of person who has a pocket blow-torch, you can use it to brown the edges of the cake. Alas, I am sans blow torch. I wouldn't try putting it in the broiler-- that seems too risky for a cake (not to mention if it's on a cake stand!), but it's fine fresh. I added thinly sliced a lemon to the top of the cake, which looked nice. You could sprinkle some lemon zest around if you prefer, or leave it bare. Enjoy!

Related recipes:
Lemon Chess Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Lime and Raspberry Italian Meringue Pie
Pecan Layer Cake with Salted Caramel Filling and Vanilla Buttercream

Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

The first aluminum Bundt cake pan was cast in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, who owned the Minneapolis, Minnesota Nordic Ware company. Similar cakes were of course made before the aluminum pan was cast. Prior to that, traditional cast-iron Kugelhopf pans were used to make tube cakes, and "Bunt" or "Bun" cakes appear in Jewish-American and German-American cookbooks as early as 1889. Dalquist, however, is credited with making the pan affordable and accessible and his version grew to popularity in 1966 when the "Tunnel of Fudge Cake" won the Pillsbury Bake-off.

By the time I was growing up in Indiana, Bundt cakes were ubiquitous, at least in the Midwest, from what I could see, and my grandma would often make them as a quick Sunday dinner dessert. When I was back in Indiana last Christmas Eve, with 2 pies on the docket for Christmas dinner, I wanted to make some other type of dessert for that evening-- something that wouldn't take too much time or extra ingredients. So I opted for this Bundt, adopted only slightly (just a little less sugar in mine) from Molly of Orangette. It paired perfectly with a nip of Bailey's that night, as well as some strong coffee the next morning. I think my dad and brother may have sprinkled on some extra whiskey the next day, but I'll let that remain their little secret.

Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake
Adapted only slightly from Orangette (originally from the New York Times)

Makes 10-12 servings

Ingredients
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened, plus more to grease the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to flour the pan
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup instant espresso powder
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup bourbon, rye, or other whiskey, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Confectioner's sugar, for garnish (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan (or 2 8- or 9-inch loaf pans).

2. In a heatproof bowl, set over but not touching a saucepan of simmering water, melt chocolate until just-smooth, stirring occasionally. Let cool.

3. Put espresso and cocoa powder in a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup and add enough boiling water to come to the 1-cup measuring line. Stir until powders dissolve, then add the whiskey and salt. Let cool.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, and beat until well-combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda, melted chocolate, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

5. With the mixture on low-speed, beat in a third of the whiskey mixture. When the liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup of the flour. Repeat additions, ending with the whiskey mixture (batter will be liquid-y). Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes for a Bundt pan (loaves will take less time-- start checking them after 55 minutes). 

6. Transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a cooling rack. Unmold after 15 minutes and sprinkle warm cake with more whiskey (about 3 teaspoons worth-- or more!). Cool completely before serving, and garnish with Confectioner's sugar, if desired. 

Related recipes:

Apricot Kuchen

Chocolate Chess Pie

Pecan Layer Cake with Salted Caramel and Vanilla Buttercream

Peppermint Pattie Tart