Apple Whisky Cake

One of my guilty pleasures is reading cookbooks, and the year before last I received an amazing banking book: Home Baked Comfort.  It’s been almost a year since I made anything from it, though, and last night I just had to get back into it. I did so with Apple Whisky Cake because (a) my husband loves whisky and (b) I love recipes with brown sugar.

So for my take on this dish, I ended up making few small changes, so I have my recipe below, but remember that the original recipe can be found in Home Baked Comfort,  and there is a copy of that original recipe online.

Letting the cake cool

The biggest problem with this recipe for me was the whisky apples. You are supposed to let the apples soak in whisky and just add the apples, but you waste some whisky, so I added it anyway.  Once I’d done that I needed to tweak (slightly) the sugars and spices so that the whisky wasn’t overpowering.

All of my ‘tweaks’ extended the baking time by thirty minutes (sorry!). It is also gooey-er and more like a brownie in density than a cake, but I think it works quite well this way. It turned out amazingly delicious and adds a bit more of the caramel tones to the whisky and apple flavours.

My version

My take on Williams-Sonoma’s Apple Whisky Cake

• 4 small red apples (I used red delicious, the book recommends Pink Lady)
• 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp Smooth Whisky (I used Maker’s Mark)
• 1 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
•  1 1/2 cups brown sugar (the book incorrectly converts this to 330g, it should be 300)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar ( I added more than the book)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (250g) of unsalted butter, melted.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (165 C)

Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with baking parchment

In a bowl toss the apples and whisky. If you can, stir them regularly to be sure they soak

In another medium bowl combine flour, baking soda,  cinnamon and nutmeg and  whisk together until combined

In a separate bowl beat together eggs and sugars on medium speed until thick and smooth (book suggests this takes 3 minutes in a mixing stand, it takes longer by electric mixer)

Add melted butter and beat until incorporated

Add dry ingredients a little at a time, on a low speed

Once fully combined, stir in apples and remaining whisky until smooth

Pour into lined baking tin and place on the middle-shelf of the oven.

After 60 minutes, check on the cake by inserting a toothpick or cold knife.  If it comes out clean, then you can take it out to cool, if not, it will take another 10 minutes (mine did)

Once cooked through, allow to cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes.

Then remove from tin by pulling out with the baking parchment and let cool completely.

I hope you like my version, or the original, it is very yummy with anything vanilla and creamy or just on its own!