RECIPE – Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cake from The Boozy Baker

Lucy Baker, author of The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets (click here to see a separate post ) shares this recipe involving the famously sweet southern elixir in its name.

Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cake

Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cake

This sugary whiskey lends itself to baking, yielding a subtle hint of whiskey without overpowering the other flavors. What could be more Southern or comforting than incorporating it into red velvet cake? —Lucy Baker

Makes 12 to 16 servings or 24 cupcakes

For the cake:

3 cups cake flour

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup Southern Comfort

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

For the frosting:

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Southern Comfort

Chopped toasted pecans, for garnish (optional)

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter, or spray them with nonstick spray. Dust them with flour and tap out the excess.

Whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, Southern Comfort, vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack, and then remove them from the pans and cool completely.

To make the frosting: Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes. Add 6 cups of the confectioners’ sugar, the milk, and the Southern Comfort. Beat on low speed until creamy. Gradually add the remaining confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, until the frosting has reached the desired consistency.

Place one cake layer on a plate and spread it with about one-third of the frosting. Top with the remaining cake layer and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the cake with chopped pecans, if using.

Shake It Up: For a bolder flavor, substitute Tennessee whiskey, such as Jack Daniels, for the Southern Comfort.

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Excerpted with permission from The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets by Lucy Baker, published in 2010 by Running Press, a division of the Perseus Books Group; (215) 567-5080.