Apple Cake, Gloriously Soused

SOAKING a cake in liquor or syrup is an old concept, one that has sometimes been abused.

The best results are baba au rhum or the wonderful British sticky toffee pudding. The worst are cake-mix pudding cakes that try to accomplish the same thing.

Bake a standard cake — here I make a yellow, or “golden” cake — and when it’s done, pour enough sweetened, butter-laden alcohol over the top to really saturate it.

I like bourbon, but Calvados may be more appropriate given the apples added to this cake. Really, any brown liquor with flavor will do nicely. The result is strong and juicy and makes frosting superfluous.

I make the batter in the food processor, which is perfect for lazy people. Just don’t overprocess once you add the flour, or the cake will be tough.

You can bake this in a large rectangular baking pan or a bundt pan; the batter will fill either nicely. A bundt pan is preferable because it allows the liquid to reach more surface area.

A couple of technical notes: puréeing apples takes a couple of minutes, so don’t stop when they are merely shredded or chunked.

And don’t worry if the batter appears curdled before you add the dry ingredients and milk; it’ll smooth out soon enough.

For variations, substitute raw beets for the apples for an unusual look and unexpected (and lovely) flavor. Carrots, parsnips, even fennel work as well.

If you are not inclined to use alcohol, you could switch to an orange glaze.

You will find a recipe, and one for sticky toffee pudding, on my blog, Bitten.