Cake Recipes
Liqueur Cakes
Ingredients
Cakes
- 8 eggs
- 2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup melted butter (at room temperature)
Syrup
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 1/8 cups water
- 1 3/4 cups liqueur of choice*
Liqueurs and Optional Toppings
- Amaretto and 1/3 cup toasted almonds
- Grand Marnier and 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- Frangelico and 1/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
- Rum and brandy (while not really liqueurs) work well in these cakes, also.
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour four 8 x 3 3/4 inch loaf pans.
Cakes
- Split open vanilla bean and scrape seeds into cream. Drop pod into cream and heat until scalding. Let cool.
- Whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt until well blended.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together. Whisk the sifted dry ingredients into the egg/sugar mixture just until blended.
- Remove (and discard) the vanilla bean pod from the cream, and whisk cream into the batter.
- Gently mix in the melted butter.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown and a cake
tester comes out clean.
- While cake is baking, prepare Syrup.
Syrup
- Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Stir mixture over medium-high heat until it comes to a simmer. Continue to heat WITHOUT FURTHER STIRRING until mixture comes to a full boil. Cover and continue to boil for about 1 minute or until all sugar is dissolved and liquid is clear. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in liqueur.
- When you remove cakes from the oven, allow them to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn cakes out of pan. Immediately return cakes to the pan. Use a thin wooden skewer to poke numerous holes into the cakes, about 1 inch apart. The holes should go all the way from the top to the bottom of the cake.
- Pour 1/4 syrup mixture over each cake and, if desired, sprinkle with toppings.
- Let cool until the cakes have absorbed the syrup.
- Remove from pans.
Notes
If giving these cakes as gifts, use disposable aluminum foil loaf pans and give the cakes in the pans.