Christopher Kimball’s Recipe for Having Whiskey for Dessert

Leave it to serial recipe tester Christopher Kimball to not only have a favorite recipe for Maple-Whiskey Pudding Cakes but to have actually made it with various kinds of whiskey.

“We tried a few different types of whiskey here: Our favorites were Jameson for its clean, bright flavor and Rittenhouse rye for its spicy depth,” he writes in his new book, Milk Street: Tuesday Nights, which just came out this week.

“These individual desserts bake up with a gooey sauce beneath a layer of rich, tender cake,” he continues. And if the combination of maple syrup and whiskey wasn’t decadent enough, he suggests serving the “cakes warm, with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.”

You just may skip the rest of your meal and go straight for dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 Tbsp Maple syrup
• 1 tsp Cider vinegar
• 6 Tbsp Whiskey, divided
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) Salted butter, divided
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup White sugar
• 1/4 cup Whole milk
• 1 Large egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Pecans, toasted
• 1/2 cup All-purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan over medium, combine a half cup of water, the maple syrup, vinegar, 4 tablespoons of whiskey, 2 tablespoons of butter and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. In another small saucepan over medium, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter. Cook, swirling the pan, until the milk solids at the bottom are deep golden brown and the butter has the aroma of toasted nuts, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the middle position. Mist four 6-ounce ramekins with cooking spray and place on a rimmed baking sheet. When the butter is cool, whisk in the sugar, milk, egg, vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoons whiskey. Set aside.
4. In a food processor, process the pecans until finely ground and beginning to clump, 30 to 40 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt, then pulse until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the butter mixture and pulse until a smooth, thick batter forms, about 5 pulses, scraping down the bowl once.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Gently pour the maple mixture over the batter in each ramekin. Do not stir. Bake until the cakes are puffed and the centers jiggle only slightly, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving; the cakes will fall slightly as they cool.

NOTE: Don’t stir the maple-whiskey syrup into the batter after dividing it among the batter-filled ramekins. During baking, the syrup forms a sauce at the bottom.

Excerpted from MILK STREET Copyright © 2017 by Christopher Kimball. Used with permission of Little, Brown and Company, New York.  All rights reserved.