We had some friends over for dinner this weekend, and I decided that was a perfect excuse to do some baking. I had been imagining something tangeriney (we have a ton of clementines on our tree this year), but not too sweet. After looking in vain for the perfect recipe, I decided to do a spin-off of a classic pound cake, add a little tangerine and some booze for good measure (I mean, what’s not better with whiskey?). It came out pretty delicious, if I do say so myself! 😉 Here’s the recipe:
Cake Ingredients
3/4 cup good butter, room temperature (plus a bit more to grease pan)
3 cups flour (plus a bit more to flour pan)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
1 – 1/2 tsp. tangerine zest (zest from 2 large or 3 small tangerines)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup whisky
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
Glaze Ingredients
3 Tbsp. butter
1/4 – 1/2 cup whiskey
1/2 cup tangerine juice
1 cup sugar
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan and set aside. If desired, peel 2 small tangerines or clementines and slice thin, placing the slices in the bottom of the bundt cake pan. This will give a subtle design to the cake top.
Sift together 3 cups flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
In a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup, combine milk, vanilla and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer until very fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add in the 3 cups sugar, 1/2 cup at a time and blend until very smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, blending well in between. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, and beat well. Then add 1/3 of the milk mixture, and beat well. Continue, alternating between the two, until all the ingredients have been added, and mix until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan and bake. Check after 1 hour to see if a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. If not, add 5 minutes at a time. Remove cake and allow to cool.
While cake is baking, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine glaze ingredients and stir until the mixture simmers and sugar dissolves. Simmer for about 10 minutes. You may adjust the whiskey to taste – 1/4 cup gives it just a hint, 1/2 cup will have more of a zing. (Note that most of the alcohol will evaporate during the cooking of the sauce, but there may be some percentage remaining in the sauce.) Let sauce cool.
Once both the cake and the sauce have cooled, place cake on a plate or cake stand and use a toothpick to poke holes in the top and sides of the cake. Carefully spoon the sauced over the cake, allowing it to saturate. Much of the sauce will pool on the plate, but if you allow the cake to rest, it will absorb most of the extra. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. Yum!
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