Father’s day whisky cake

This is a cake I made for AchicaLiving.com to celebrate Father’s day. My dad likes a drop of Whiskey and I thought it was a pretty manly way to make a cake – if you follow my meaning.

When I make a cake for Achica I have to make it ahead of time. It’s a planned post -usually weeks before it goes live, so I decided to soak the fruit and make the cake a few days later, but three days turned into three weeks and the fruits which were soaking in the whiskey were seriously alcoholic by that time! When I finally got around to baking the cake my in laws were popping round for a cuppa so they were my gineau pigs. They loved it. I cut a massive slice for my dad and took it round all wrapped up. I set it down on the table and said “Here’s a slice of whiskey cake for you” and his eyes literally lit up. So when we celebrated his birthday last week it was a no brainer what cake I was going to make!

Whiskey Cake

Ingredients

• 200g dried apricots (cut into small pieces) 
• zest and juice of one lemon
• 150ml whisky
• 175g butter at room temperature
• 175g brown sugar (sieved)
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 50ml whisky
• 200g self raising flour 
• ½ tsp baking powder

For the topping(chocolate topping as seen on the AchicaLiving post)

• 50g butter
• 100g milk chocolate
• 1 tbsp whisky
• 100g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp milk 

1. For the best tasting cake place the fruits in an airtight container with the whisky and lemon zest and juice and leave to infuse for 48-72 hours. You can leave it for longer to give the fruits a stronger flavour.
2. To make the cake, oil (with sunflower oil) and line an 8” cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (Fan oven160ºC).
3. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl then add the yolks one at a time. Incorporate the whisky. 
4. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mix and combine well. 
5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites till they form stiff peaks then fold them in till completely incorporated.
6. Finally add the boozy fruits making sure to get every drop of whiskey out of the container and all the fruit is coated in cake mix. 
7. Pour into your cake tin and level with the back of a spoon. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is golden brown and the sides have come away from the tin. 
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the frosting.

1. Once the cake is completely cold place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a low heat until they are completely melted. Stir continuously. Add the whisky then set aside to cool for a few minutes. 
2. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl then add the chocolate mix. Whisk until combined then add a little milk at a time. The ganache should look glossy. 
3. Leave to cool for a few minutes before covering your cake completely. 

EmmaMT

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