WOODFORD RESERVE BOURBON CAKE
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Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cake with Caramel Glaze offers a rich, bold flavor of bourbon, this cake is not for the faint of heart! It’s a boozy twist on a Southern classic!
I gave Big Daddy three bottles of his favorite bourbons for Christmas; all premium, single barrel bourbons! We were educated on all things bourbon after enjoying the Bourbon Trail for three days.
This is a really fun tour if you have a free weekend. You’ll learn the art, history, and science behind the bourbon brewing process. As well, you’ll have the opportunity to taste various bourbons, some that are not even on the market yet.
We made it into a family trip and incorporated kid-friendly activities into our visit. On the Bourbon Tour, our first stop was Maker’s Mark. (photo below taken at Maker’s Mark.)
The cake would be fabulous without the caramel glaze, but I’m all about more is more when it comes to desserts so I added the luscious, creamy caramel on top! I KNOW RIGHT?! Just look at that caramel oozing off the top!
Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cake with Caramel Glaze
Bourbon gives this cake a deep, rich flavor. However, it’s not an over-powering flavor. And, the texture of the cake is tender with a fine crumb. It melts in your mouth.
I recently updated this post with new photos and easier instructions. As well, the photo below is from the original post and photos.
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While you’re here, check out these recipes
- Bourbon Balls
- Butter Beer Pound Cake
- CHEESY SAUSAGE DIP
- Coffee Cake Pound Cake
- Orange Creamsicle Pound Cake
- Sheet Pan Pound Cake
- TANGY RANCH CHICKEN
- BOURBON BURGERS
- Can I Bake a Pound Cake in a 9×13-inch Pan?
- Woodford Reserve Bourbon Eggnog Cheesecake with Vanilla Wafer Crust
- All my pound cake recipes
More yummy pound cakes
WOODFORD RESERVE BOURBON CAKE TIPS
- First, I prefer to bake my pound cakes in this tube pan versus a bundt pan. Several of my pound cakes in this series have too much batter for a standard bundt pan.
- For any cake, be diligent about measuring your flour accurately. Furthermore, I wrote this post that will help you if you’re not sure how to measure: How to Correctly Measure Flour.
- Allow yourself time to cream the
butter (or fat) and sugar for a pound cake. Don’t be tempted to rush the process. You want to cream it until it is light in color and fluffy. - As well, don’t dump the eggs in all at once. Add them one at a time beating until you can no longer see the egg before you add another one.
- To test for doneness, insert a long skewer into the thickest part of the cake. The cake is done when no crumbs or dry crumbs remain on the skewer when removed.
- Next, allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter.
- Additionally, cool the cake completely before covering it.
Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cake with Caramel Glaze
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- ½ cup Crisco shortening
- 2 cup brown sugar
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- 5 ounces half and half at room temperature (heavy cream or milk can be substituted)
- 2 Tablespoons bourbon Woodford Reserve bourbon, or your favorite bourbon
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted then measured correctly
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Caramel Glaze
- ½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and ¼ cup powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and sugar (I use granulated sugar but you can use flour) a 10×4-inch, 12 cup bundt pan (that's larger than a typical bundt pan) or a tube pan with solid vegetable shortening or Wilton Cake Release.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter and shortening at medium speed. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until light and creamy. Stop mixer and scrape sides.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended. Stop mixer and scrape sides with a spatula.
- Add bourbon to half and half; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture to the ingredients in the mixing bowl beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stop mixer and scrape sides with a spatula.
- Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 325°F for 1 hour 10 to 15 minutes. A long wooden pick inserted in the center should come out clean when the cake is done. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes then remove from pan to cake plate.
- Cool the cake completely on a wire rack before glazing. It will take about an hour for the cake to cool completely.
Caramel Glaze
- Bring brown sugar, whipping cream, and butter to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly.
- Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth and the mixture begins to thicken. This will take 3 to 5 minutes.
- Immediately pour frosting over the cooled cake.
- Store in an airtight container on the countertop for 1 week. Freezes well.
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
Would it be okay to make this cake the night before and then do the frosting in the morning before the event I am taking it to? I just don’t know if it’ll dry out or not be as tasty or fresh by cooling to room temp them storing in the fridge. Do I need to do anything special?
Yes, it’ll be fine making it the day before.
Just made this cake for my husband’s birthday and he LOVES it! Woodford is one of our favorite bourbons…so when I saw this recipe I knew instantly it would be a winner! I added 1/2 tsp to the glaze, for extra punch…next time I’ll add 1 full tsp! Delicious recipe! Thank you! 🤗
This was delicious! Everyone loved it! I added some bourbon to the glaze as well. 😋
How do you think this would be with rum?
It would be wonderful! Or, I have this pound cake with rum> https://www.callmepmc.com/totally-scratch-made-rum-pound-cake-with-rum-glaze/
Hi Paula. Thank you for the recipe. We are a family of 2 and will never be able to consume a full cake. Any suggestions for approximate bake time if I split this recipe into 2 6 cup tube pans? Thank you again.
I’m not sure about 1/2 the batter in a tube pan, but 1/2 the batter in a 9×5 inch loaf pan usually takes 45 to 55 minutes (depending on pan color).
Looks 🤩 Thinking about making it for friend’s Bday. What about adding whisky to glaze.? 🤔
Yes, you absolutely can add it to the glaze. You can replace the vanilla and up to half of the whipping cream.
Yes, I add some Woodford Reserve to the glaze also when I make for my friends’ B-Days. Since I like more icing with my cake I do 1.5x for the gaze although I can actually eat this cake without the glaze and it’s delicious. The glaze puts it over the top though. First time I made it, my friend’s exact words were “Oh my god! This is so good!” Definitely one of Paula’s all time best recipes! Thank you, Paula!
🏆Yay!! Thank you so much!!
Just made this, and while technically I haven’t had a slice yet, I have licked the bowl and added this to my favorite dessert recipe collection. Thank you! I did do some substitutions as I have some dairy intolerance but I didn’t completely cut out dairy. Mostly I substituted soy half and half for the milk options and did half butter and half an olive oil based “butter”
Would you change anything (other than baking time) if one was to make cupcakes? Asking for a friend… Lol!
No, just baking time. Start checking them around 22-26 minutes
Could I add apples ? Would o need to change anything!
You can. It’s take longer to bake. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden and spring back when lightly poked with your finger.
Can I use all butter or do I need the vegetable shortening
You can use all butter…. but butter, not margarine