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Estelle's Butterscotch Pound Cake

Source of Recipe

From "A Good Meal is Hard to Find" by Amy Evans and Martha Foose


Recipe Introduction

"Estelle was going to bake a pound cake, but she decided to pour herself a glass of Scotch instead. It had been a long day. But then she thought better of ditching her cake-baking plan. After all, she could let the butter soften while she sat at the kitchen table to check her lottery numbers. She took the butter out of the fridge and then went ahead and poured another glass of Scotch to set on the windowsill for later. Estelle knew well enough to save her second drink until she got the cake in the oven."

List of Ingredients

Cake:
â—¦ â…“ cup Scotch whisky
â—¦ 1 ¼ cups heavy cream, at room temperature
â—¦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
â—¦ 3 ½ cups cake flour
â—¦ 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
â—¦ ¾ teaspoon baking soda
â—¦ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
â—¦ 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
â—¦ 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
â—¦ â…” cup packed light brown sugar
â—¦ 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Butterscotch Glaze:
â—¦ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
â—¦ ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
â—¦ ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
â—¦ 2 tablespoons Scotch whisky
â—¦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
â—¦ 1 cup heavy cream

â—¦ Crushed butterscotch candy disks for garnish, if desired


Recipe

To make the cake:
Heat your oven to 350° F. Thoroughly spray a large (12-cup) Bundt or tube cake pan with nonstick baking spray or butter, and lightly flour the pan and knock out any excess flour.

Combine your Scotch, cream, and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup with a spout. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat your butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add both sugars and beat at medium-high speed for 5 whole minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl every so often. Turn the speed to medium-low and add your eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and add the flour mixture, alternating with your Scotch mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Give your bowl one more good scrape around the edges and all the way to the bottom. Mix on low for a few seconds. Scrape your batter into your prepared pan. Drop the pan on the counter two times to keep tunnels from forming in the cake as it bakes.

Bake at 350° F for 45 to 50 minutes, until your cake springs back when touched lightly and a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Let your cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn your cake out onto the rack to cool completely. When your cake is cool, put it on a platter.

To make the butterscotch glaze:
This glaze will bubble furiously, so use a large, deep pot. Put your butter, brown sugar, salt, Scotch, vanilla, and cream in the pot and stir over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, or until thick and shiny. Let this glaze cool for 5 minutes off the heat.

Pour the glaze over your cake, brushing some all over the sides, too. Sprinkle with crushed butterscotch candies, if desired.

Makes one very large cake