Bourbon Cake Recipe with Bourbon Glaze

This bourbon cake recipe, sometimes called the Kentucky Derby cake is from Kentucky where the people enjoy eating a variety of bourbon recipes. As with most alcohols such as bourbon and beers, many recipes will emerge from these areas where the alcohol is produced, which include these ingredients in the recipes.

Bourbon cakes are commonly found in my home state of Ohio. Bourbon is a type of American whiskey and most of it is being produced in distilleries in Cincinnati. This is about fifty miles from where I grew up and also not very far from Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby and other great events. The bourbon cake recipe in this area, most often called the Kentucky Derby Cake is generally served during the Kentucky Derby as well as throughout the year


I have included this cake among my great cake recipes. Fruit and nut recipes fit well into the holiday cooking and this one has the added flavors of the spices. Bourbon has the flavors of caramel, honey, fruit, floral, vanilla and spices which enhance the flavors in this fruitcake recipe. More tastiness is added by dripping the bourbon syrup over the baked cake. All this is why I have included this cake in my Christmas cake recipes

NOTE: The MINT JULEP is the historical traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby. It is made with bourbon, mint and sugar syrup.

BOURBON CAKE RECIPE OR KENTUCKY DERBY CAKE

• 1 ½ Cups raisins
• 1 ¼ Cup bourbon
• 4 Cups flour
• 2 Teaspoons baking powder
• 1 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 Teaspoon ground mace
• 1 ½ Cups butter
• 2 ¼ Cups packed brown sugar
• 6 Eggs
• 4 ½ Cups chopped pecans
• 1 Cup chopped candied cherries
• 1 Cup chopped candied pineapple
• 1 ½ Cups orange marmalade

Combine the raisins and the 1 ¼ Cups bourbon and let set for 1 hour. Drain the raisins and save the bourbon.

Grease a 10 inch tube pan. Line the bottom and sides with strips of heavy brown paper and then grease the paper.

Combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and mace. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each.

Add the saved bourbon and the flour mixture alternately to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Turn batter into a very large bowl and add the raisins, pecans, cherries, pineapple and orange marmalade. Stir with a large spoon until all is well blended.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 3 to 3 ½ hours or until pick comes out clean.

Cool cake for a few minutes and remove from the pan; cool to warm and add following syrup.

BOURBON SYRUP (For bourbon cake recipe)

• ½ Cup butter


• 1 Cup sugar


• ½ Cup bourbon

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan. Stir in the bourbon and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let liquid set on the burner for three minutes. Cool until warm. Pierce top of cake and drip syrup over cake until it is all soaked in. When cake is cold, wrap in clear plastic wrap and refrigerate for a week.

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