Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake
Open up a bottle of bourbon…and bake a cake! This Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake is packed with warming baking spices. It’s a delicious way to celebrate the arrival of cooler temperatures!
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Laura and I joke that bourbon became one of our COVID hobbies. Well, that and adopting 2 puppies and chainsawing trees in our backyard. Laura’s uncle was really into bourbon, and he made regular trips to Kentucky to visit distilleries and stock up on his favorite hard-to-find bourbons. Every summer, Laura’s entire family gathers at her aunt and uncle’s house in Maryland for a family reunion of sorts. It’s a wild weekend, but it’s fun to see the cousins all playing together.
Laura’s uncle loved to smoke meat. He had 3 different smokers, and he would get them all out each summer for the reunion weekend. I still remember the time I opened one of the smokers and found an entire pig’s head staring back at me. I asked him why, and he just said he wanted to try it out. A man after my own heart right there! That pretty much encapsulates my philosophy when it comes to cooking, baking and grilling. Why? Because I wanted to learn!
Laura’s uncle passed away several years ago, and we miss him. The reunion weekends aren’t the same without him. However, we picked up his hobby of collecting hard-to-find bourbons, and it’s been a lot of fun. I only wish he was still with us so we could talk about the different bottles! We would often sit and have a glass of bourbon with him back in the day, but we didn’t know enough at the time to have an educated conversation. Thanks to COVID, we’ve learned to talk bourbon. If you are into the hard-to-find bourbon game like us, then shoot me a message – I’d love to chat!
Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake
Bourbon Spice Bundt CakeAt any given time, we have a large variety of bourbon whiskey in our liquor cabinet. It’s not because we drink that much. Typically, we pour ourselves a glass or two on weekend nights. Rather, we enjoy having the choices. Some bottles are super rare, and those get saved for special occasions. Other bottles come out regularly, but each one has it’s own unique flavor. Some nights you want something smooth and easy drinking. Other nights you want a spicy rye. It just depends on our mood.
My mom has a recipe for a bourbon apple cake that I absolutely love. I recently took that recipe and put a spice cake twist on it. The apples were omitted, but I upped the spices. This Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake is amazing. My sister-in-law happened to be here when I first made this cake, and she said it tasted like Christmas. I couldn’t agree more!
And the bourbon glaze that gets poured on top of this Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake? Yum! This spice cake is definitely going onto my list of favorite fall and winter desserts!
A quick note about baking with bourbon. The bourbon that you use will have a noticeable impact on the flavor of this cake. I wouldn’t recommend pulling out a special bottle of bourbon whiskey for this cake. Instead, use a bottle that you might use for mixing cocktails. Similar to cooking with wine, don’t cook with a bourbon that you wouldn’t drink. And if a little bourbon happens to land in a glass while you’re baking this Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake? Totally acceptable! You do have to taste your ingredients, right? Cheers and happy baking!
Did you bake this Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version!
Bourbon Spice Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 package 3.4-oz. instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¾ cup 2% milk
- ¾ cup bourbon whiskey
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1⅓ cups coarsely chopped pecans divided
For the Bourbon Glaze
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 Tbsp bourbon whiskey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a standard 12-cup Bundt pan; set pan aside.
- Using a large mixing bowl, add flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves; stir until well combined.
- Using a separate bowl, add milk, bourbon, vegetable oil and eggs; stir until well combined. Add liquid mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients; stir until well combined.
- Fold 1 cup of chopped pecans into batter.
- Transfer batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 65-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean.
- Remove pan from oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
- Invert pan onto serving plate. Let cake cool completely.
For the Bourbon Glaze
- Using a medium saucepan, add all of the glaze ingredients except for vanilla (brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk and bourbon). Place over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until mixture is smooth and no longer grainy.
- Remove glaze from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour glaze over the top of the cooled cake. Sprinkle remaining chopped pecans on top of glaze before it sets.
Looking for more recipes that use bourbon? Check out these other favorites, too:
Will be making this soon for the cake can i use almond milk and for the glaze can i use vegan butter as am dairy free i never had bourbon spice bundt cake before perfect for my birthday next month on 19 and after office snacks miss your tweets on mondays wednesdays and fridays i hope you wont stop sending newsletters and posting recipes as they are my favourite love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Hey Ramya! I haven’t tried those substitutions so I can’t say for sure how they would turn out. However, I say give it a shot! This would be a fantastic way to celebrate a birthday, too! (Don’t worry – I won’t stop sending the newsletters out either…they might just go out on different days.)
What a great looking cake! I think tasting all the different bourbons would be a fun hobby! 🙂 But using it in a cake is a delicious idea! I really like that the bourbon is used in the cake itself and in the glaze too! That’s a lot of flavor.
Bourbon tasting really is a fun hobby – and the thing is, we don’t really have a single favorite bourbon. It depends on our mood for the day! No matter the mood, though, this cake is a fantastic way to end the day. It screams fall flavor to me! Thanks, Kathy!
Wow this cake looks phenomenal David! I happen to have a bottle of bourbon, so that means I need to get on this recipe!
Ah, I think that sounds like fate then, Michelle! Pull out that bottle of bourbon and get a cake in the oven! 🙂
Lol, I would love to take that hobby, bourbon!
Oh, it’s such a fun hobby, Raymund! And there is so much to learn with so many different styles and all. 🙂
Sounds like you have such fond memories of Laura’s uncle, David. I love the warmth that bourbon brings to baked goods, so I know I would love this spiced cake! Perfect treat for the autumn months. (How is it already September!!)
We do indeed have fond memories of Laura’s uncle. He left us too soon, but we do cheers him quite often when the family sits down with a glass of bourbon at the end of the day. Speaking of bourbon? This cake. It’s fantastic! It’s packed with autumn flavor. Yum!!
For me, the best memories are wrapped around eating and a good bottle of bourbon. So, this is my kind of treat and perfect for a coffee break while reading a good book.
Speaking of books, have you read “Pappyland” by Wright Thompson? It’s a fantastic read about the Van Winkles, bourbon, and the culture around it. It also has some great thoughts on life. If you haven’t read it, you should as I know you would truly enjoy the read.
You said it, Ron – bourbon (and food) is all about the memories. It’s fun to pull a bottle off of the shelf and then think back to when you first opened it and who you’ve shared pours of that bourbon with since then. We love the personal connection that comes with each and every bottle!
So Pappyland? I’m not familiar with it, but I’m adding it to my Amazon cart as we speak. It sounds fantastic! We haven’t had the fortune to get a Pappy yet, but I do suspect we’ll find a bottle at some point. Thanks for the book recommendation!
Remember when you jokingly mentioned working together… well if that were to happen, I just have one request… THIS bundt – for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I’ll watch Robbie in exchange? 🙂 Seriously though, wow! What a stunner! And the flavors in this have me drooling! I swear I can smell this from here in GA! While I love bourbon in everything from popsicles to bundt’s like this, I am not a connoisseur – but Lil S is more so than I am!
Sounds like y’all had such a wonderful relationship with Laura’s uncle, and I’m sorry for y’alls loss… but what a wonderful way to keep his memory alive! Also – am so curious – did y’all taste that smoked pig’s head? How was it?
Haha – I think we can make that request happen, Shashi! 🙂 I’m always looking for an excuse to bake, and this cake is fantastic – it’s packed with autumn flavor!
So if Lil S is into bourbon, tell her to come on up for a weekend sometime! We’ll have fun. 🙂 And, yes, I did take a nibble of that smoked pig’s head. More specifically, the jowl is called guanciale and it’s the traditional meat used in carbonara. It was delicious! Now will I go smoke a pig’s head just to get guanciale? Nope. I’ll go with pancetta instead just for sheer ease. But it was a fun little experiment!
Oh I feel autumn vibes here! 🙂
I don’t like hard liquors like bourbon on its own, but it’s so phenomenal when used in recipes. This cake definitely looks terrific, and the combination of all the flavours is spot on. I’m a bit surprised you didn’t make a maple-bourbon glaze, though. I mean, now you have a legitimate reason to bake this cake again (and ship one half to me, of course.)
This cake has SO many autumn vibes going on, Ben – it’s fantastic! Now you’ve got me wondering. Why did it not occur to me to add a bit of maple into that glaze? Missed opportunities! Or should I say new opportunities as that gives me a reason to make this cake again. I’ll stick half of it into an envelope and send it your way. 🙂
This sounds amazing! I’m going to make this for a Super Bowl party. Should the brown sugar be light or dark?
Ah – this would be a great cake for a Super Bowl party! I recommend using light brown sugar here. Dark brown sugar might overpower the flavor of the bourbon in there. Cheers!!