Hootenholler Whiskey Quick Bread
- Total Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼cup bourbon, plus more for you
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1cup flour, plus more for dusting
- 1cup sugar
- 3large eggs, beaten
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- ¼teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼cup milk
- ¼cup molasses
- ¼teaspoon baking soda
- 1cup raisins
- 1cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
277 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 99 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
First, take the bourbon out of the cupboard and have a small snort for medicinal purposes. Now, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the beaten eggs, a little at a time.
- Step 2
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg, and add to the batter. Then beat in the milk. Combine the molasses and baking soda and mix into the batter. To help prevent the raisins and pecans from sinking, dust them with flour, shaking off excess. Mix them, along with the bourbon, into the batter until combined. Transfer to the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes up clean, 1¾ to 2 hours.
- Whiskey cake keeps practically forever, wrapped in aluminum foil, in your refrigerator. It gets better and better too, if you buck it up once in a while by using an eyedropper to add a little more whiskey.
Private Notes
Comments
Cake is delicious. I like the texture too. It was surprisingly light and spongy. 2 things though. First, I skipped the nutmeg and instead added 1 tsp vanilla extract. Second, because most of the nuts and raisins sank at the bottom of the pan, it was hard to unmold the finished cake. Some nuts/raisins were stuck at the bottom of the pan so my unmolded cake did not look perfect. Next time, I will try to use parchment paper and let it hang outside pan so I can lift cake out of pan.
You’ll find that if you toss the nuts, etc in a bit of flour they won’t sink to the bottom.
These are delicious-- and so easy to make! I made mine in mini-loaf tins, to make them easier to give to friends (which was difficult, once I tried one of them). Baking time is, of course, much less (around 50 minutes). Parchment is really a must.
Look at the picture: the fruit and nuts have sunk to the bottom. Presumably the cook followed the instructions to dust them with flour first. Here's what Stella Parks of Serious Eats says about the flouring tip for blueberry muffins: they still sink, so it's a waste of time. "Before adding the blueberries, drop a scoop of plain batter into the bottom of each muffin cup, then fold in your berries and portion out the rest." I'll try it with this recipe! Also, my mom loved Peg Bracken.
Update: Nope, the Stella Parks blueberry muffin trick did not work for this bread. The fruit and nuts sank to the bottom. But it was delicious anyway! I love the flavors of molasses and bourbon that come through.
I cut the sugar to 3/4 cup. I put nuts and dried fruit in a bowl then after buttering and flouring the loaf pan dump the excess flour into nut and fruit bowl to covering them while preparing rest of the cake. This bread/cake is so flavorful and moist. Delicious definitely will be made again and again. Loved the humor in step 1 of recipe
Very tasty! The second time I made it I soaked the raisins in (more) bourbon. Perfection.