This summer we have had to adjust to living back in Texas, which means that we stay in the house alot. At our age, dealing with heat just means that you learn where the coolest (and I don’t mean “hip”) stores in town are and where the closest ice cream shop is located. Some of our kids are coming to dinner tonight and they had requested that we have whiskey cake for dessert. Mandy and Cameron have taken me to Whiskey Cake on several occasions for us to have that dessert and I told them that I was determined to find the recipe for it. Wa La, lo and behold, the chef at WC was featured in the Dallas paper with his recipe for this amazing cake, which the restaurant has been named having the best dessert for 4 yrs in a row, according to the article. So tonight is the unveiling of this creation that I hope resembles the “real thing”. It takes some time, but since I “don’t have a life”, as our kids seem to think, what else do I have to do but spend hours in the kitchen making any and all of their request. Oops, I guess that didn’t sound very nice. I just hope they remember this when it comes to them picking out my nursing home.
The recipe does take about an hour, but it truly is so worth it.
And for all you Baptist out there, if you decide to bake it for dessert when you are having the preacher over, it will be our little secret what’s in it.
1 lb of dates, chopped
(I buy the chopped dates in the box that are coated in sugar and it worked great.)
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups boiling water
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup self-rising flour
2 jumbo eggs (I had extra large so used two eggs and 1 egg yolk)
1 teas vanilla
Place the dates, baking soda and boiling water in a bowl. Stir and allow to sit 15-20 min to soften the dates.
Place the date mixture in a food processor and pulse until it becomes a paste. Set aside.
Cream butter and eggs, vanilla & sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flour and mix to combine. Fold in the date mixture and pour into a 9×13″ baking pan which has been sprayed with Pam and then coated with a little sugar on bottom.
Bake at 350 in preheated oven. When cake tests done, cool for 20 min then flip cake out onto paper lined plate or tray.
Leave at room temp to cool completely. Once cool, wrap in plastic and keep stored at room temp or serve immediately.
Whiskey Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
2 tables granulated sugar
1 teas vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
1 teas Whiskey
Bring cream, 2 tables sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the other 2 tables sugar until foamy.
Temper 1/2 of the heavy cream into the mixing bowl and then return the mixture to the rest of the cream.(I actually drizzled gradually about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture to the egg mixture, stirring constantly before adding it to the rest of the cream)
Continue to cook until thicken. (This did not take but a couple of mins).
Add the vanilla and whiskey.
Remove and cool. Store in fridge until ready to use.
Toffee Sauce
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter
1 lb light brown sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 tables whiskey
1 tables vanilla
Place butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan and melt. Add the brown sugar and cook over medium heat for 10 min.
Add the heavy cream and allow to cook for an additional 7 min, stirring occasionally.
Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to ensure it is cooking evenly
Remove from heat and add the whiskey and vanilla. Stir.
Cool. You can store in fridge up to 3 days.
When ready to serve the cake pieces, place the needed amount of cake pieces on a baking sheet. Poke holes in the cake pieces and spoon some of the toffee sauce over each piece.
Place in a 500 degree oven for about 2-3 min or until toffee is bubbling and cake is warmed throughout. After placing each piece on individual plates, spoon a little of the Whiskey Sauce over the pieces. Serve with additional whipped cream if desired.
Chocolate Castles 