May 2014
Dogs are man’s best friend.
Bourbon is a girl’s best friend.
Ergo, I have an adorable, four-legged best friend named Julep!
One day I hope to sip my puppy’s namesake cocktail while wearing an ostentatious hat and watching chiseled horses compete for floral wreaths.
One day.
In the meantime…
In the meantime, I commemorated May’s classic cocktail and my little one in one minty, bourbony bundt cake…
It was one of the most scrumptious cakes I have ever made! It was so delicious my friends apprehended half of it to pacify their sweet teeth. You know what they say, cake stealing is one of the sincerest forms of flattery.
While I was on this bourbon baking bender, I couldn’t help but top that delicious, mint-infused bourbon cake with boozy whipped cream.
A labor of bourbon-spiced, time management, this cake has four main components: a mint-infused bourbon (begins 1-2 days prior to baking), the bourbon cake batter, a buttery, bourbon glaze poured over the cake immediately after baking, and lastly, the boozy whipped cream. I rarely repeat recipes, but this cake will surely become part of a repertoire.
Whole-Wheat Mint Julep Cake
w/ Minty Bourbon Butter Glaze & Bourbon Whipped Cream
Mint-Infused Bourbon
Ingredients
1/2 cup Kentucky bourbon, such as Wild Turkey
15-20 fresh mint leaves
Directions
One or two days in advance, combine bourbon and mint leaves in a jar.
Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Pour bourbon through a sieve into a small bowl or measuring cup, pressing the mint leaves against the sieve to get out any juices. Gently wring the mint leaves over the bourbon to release any remaining juices and the essential oils. Place the mint leaves back in the bourbon and return it to the jar to steep for at least 24 and up to 48 hours. When you are ready to make the cake, strain out the mint leaves, catching the bourbon in a liquid measuring cup.
Whole-Wheat Mint Julep Cake
Ingredients
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup organic unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups Turbinado raw cane sugar
1/2 cup organic packed light brown sugar
4 large organic, cage-free eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup mint-infused bourbon
1 cup organic heavy cream, at room temperature
For the Cake
Place your oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Brush the pan with melted butter and then flour it, tapping out the excess flour.
Sift cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to make sure all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, then set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each egg.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together mint-infused bourbon and cream.
Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the bourbon mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just barely combined after each addition.
When the last of the flour has been incorporated, remove the bowl from the mixer and stir a few times by hand with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed.
Pour batter into your prepared Bundt pan, distributing and smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Sharply tap the Bundt pan against the counter 2-3 times to make sure the batter gets into the crevices of the pan’s design (especially if you are using a more elaborately-designed pan).
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, start the glaze:
Glaze Ingredients
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
10-12 fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup Turbinado raw cane sugar
1/4 cup mint-infused bourbon
In a small saucepan, melt the butter.
Crush mint leaves to release their oils, and place them in the melted butter.
Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for the remainder of the time the cake is in the oven.
When the cake is finished baking, move it to a wire rack and finish making the glaze.
Remove mint leaves from the butter, wringing them out to get all the butter and flavor out of them.
Add the raw cane sugar and ¼ cup mint-infused bourbon to the butter and return to medium-high heat. Stir until granulated sugar has dissolved, 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a liquid measuring cup.
Poke holes all over what will become the bottom of the hot cake (the part that is exposed with the cake still in the pan) with a long wooden skewer.
Very slowly pour the glaze over the bottom of the cake, letting it seep into the holes.
Let the cake sit for 30 minutes.
Invert the Bundt onto a serving plate or cake stand, then lift the pan off of the cake.
Serve with bourbon whipped cream.
Bourbon Whipped Cream
Ingredients
1 cup organic heavy cream
1 Tablespoon wildflower honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
remaining mint-infused bourbon
Directions
Chill the cream in a mixing bowl in the freezer until the cream just starts to freeze. Remove from the freezer. Add the honey and vanilla.
Use a mixer, on medium speed, to beat until peaks begin to form.
Add the bourbon, and continue to mix until combined.
Keep chilled until ready to serve.
Bon Bourbon!
-Quelcy
PS: This recipe was adapted from Sift & Whisk.
