John Wheeldon × The Beaumont Hotel
The Beaumont Hotel’s pastry chef Antonia Salmon has created a Whisky Fruit Cake recipe, inspired by John Wheeldon’s Cake Plate.
\n \n Whisky Fruit Cake - serves 8
Ingredients
\nThe Cake:
\n– 1 ½ cups sultanas (soaked in ¼ cup of whisky the night before)
\n– 3 cups plain flour
\n– 2 tsp baking powder
\n– 3 cups plain flour
\n– 2 tsp baking powder
\n– 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
\n– 1 tsp sea salt
\n– 1 cup unsalted butter
\n– 1½ cups sugar
\n– ? cups light brown sugar
\n– 4 eggs
\n– 2 x ¼ cups whisky
\n– 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
\n– 1 cup pecans (to decorate the top)
\nThe Glaze:
\n– ½ cup light brown sugar
\n– ½ cup unsalted butter
\n– ¼ cup whisky
\nMethod
\nSoak the sultanas (or raisins) in ¼ cup of Whisky (preferably the night before) and put aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, either with an electric mixer on medium speed (will take about 5 minutes), or by hand. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix the buttermilk and ¼ cup of whisky together and put aside. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together in a separate bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda mixture and the buttermilk mixture alternatively to the sugar and butter mixture in 3 lots (starting and ending with the flour). Fold in the sultanas. Pour the mixture into a greaseproof paper-lined 8” round cake tin, then decorate the top with the pecans. Bake at 340 degrees for 40 mins, until golden and springs back when touched.
\nTo make the glaze, combine the sugar and butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, take off the heat and stir in the whisky. Once the cake is baked, superficially poke numerous small hotels with a toothpick (or a fork) into the cake and brush with the glaze whilst the cake is still hot. Brush 4 times, depending on how boozy you want the cake.
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