Whiskey Sour Cake

So listen.

I ran today.

If you know anything about me, you know I hate running.

Especially in the cold when the air physically hurts your lungs whenever you suck it in; every gasping breath feels like stabbing pains of death… I seriously hate running. For all of you avid runners out there— I’m sorry. It’s just really not my thing. I can suffer through an Insanity workout (still completely insane, even after completing the program), I can [sort of] tolerate Captain Peppy and his obnoxiously competitive sidekick Drea on P-90X (I can get through the workouts anyway), and I can power walk happily for… well pretty much all day.

I dig walking.

But I do not like running. Part of it has to do with it being responsible for breaking my ankle in December 2011. I broke my left ankle while running, made it worse by limp-gimp-running home, and then proceeded to make it 1,000 times worse because I can’t sit still and refused to stay off my feet because I was convinced it was just a really bad sprain.

I might be the most stubborn person on this earth. And when I don’t land on my left foot exaaaaactly perfectly it still hurts me.

Today was actually my second venture into running this week. Also it is the coldest it’s been in something like 2 years, so I picked THE BEST time to lace my sneakers up and pound out the pavement.

I’m telling you all this because the super weirdest thing ever happened today.

I dragged myself out of the house after work to hustle the 2 mile stretch around my “block” (read 2-lane road that winds through the country; it can be scenic and lovely except that there is no sidewalk and the shoulder is steep and 55 miles per hour seems really fast when you aren’t the one driving, and always at least 2 doggies try to follow me home so I get sidetracked). I planned on walking extra fast.

But I always hear about all the endorphins and happiness from running, so I thought I’d try it.

So I started running.

And then I liked it. I mean… not the whole time, but I managed to set a pace and gain a stride, and when I got to the bottom of this gigantic run-ego boosting hill, I actually started sprinting. And smiling.

I told you: super weird.

The greatest thing about running though? It burns like a zillion calories which is really important because then you can eat cake. Boozy Whiskey Sour Cake. Cake drenched in a Bourbon Butter Glaze tinged with lemon and layered with sweet cherry. Just like the drink! Except CAKE.

Whiskey Sour Cake

 

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Author: Sugar Dish Me

Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature; divided
• 2¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• zest of 2 lemons
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup bourbon whiskey, divided
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 (12 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 and generously butter a 10 cup bundt pan.
2. In one bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Then stir the dry ingredients with a whisk to make sure they are completely incorporated. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl beat together 2 sticks (1 cup) of the butter, 1½ cups of the granulated sugar, and the ½ cup light brown sugar until smooth.
4. Add the lemon zest and beat for about 30 seconds. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Pour ¼ cup of the bourbon into the buttermilk and set it aside for just a minute.
6. Add ⅓ of the flour mixture, beat until JUST incorporated and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Now pour in half of the bourbon/buttermilk. Beat and scrape down the bowl.
8. Add the next ⅓ of the flour, beat, scrape, then the other half of the bourbon/buttermilk, beat, scrape, and then add the last ⅓ of the flour. Mix in the last dry bits of flour by hand.
9. Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spoon half of the can of cherry pie filling over the batter and then cover the pie filling with the rest of the cake batter.
10. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
11. Remove the cake from the oven and set it aside to cool (in the pan)for about 10 minutes.
12. While the cake cools, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the last ¾ cup of granulated sugar until it dissolves. Then stir in the remaining ¼ cup bourbon. Cook over medium heat for about a minute, stirring frequently. Remove the sauce from the heat.
13. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the cake (still in the pan). Pour ½ the bourbon sugar glaze over the cake so it seeps into the holes. Let it cool for another 30 minutes.
14. After it's cooled, turn the cake out onto a serving dish. Pour the rest of the bourbon sugar glaze over the top of the cake.
15. Place the remaining cherry pie filling in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour half of this over the top of the cake and reserve the rest for serving.

Notes

***These instructions look long and complicated, but this cake is really very simple. I wrote out super detailed instructions because the METHOD is what's really important with this recipe***

3.2.1215

Only slightly adapted from THIS recipe published on Oprah.com. The original recipe won Miss Nell Lewis the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 1963. That’s a good cake.