Brown Butter Bourbon Apple Bundt Cake Recipe

Credit: Culinary Capers Catering

Makes 1 large Bundt or 8-10 miniature Bundts

Ingredients

• 3 medium Pink Lady apples (Chef Tip: Pastry Chef Kim Collishaw loves using Pink Lady apples as they bake well and hold their flavour. Ambrosia, Braeburn or Honeycrisp are great alternatives for this recipe.)
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsps bourbon
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Butter/non-stick spray and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
2. Place butter in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Continue to stir (ensuring that it doesn’t burn). Once melted, the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface to help stop the butter from cooking further and perhaps burning. Cool completely. Place in fridge for a few minutes to solidify.
3. Zest lemon into a bowl and add sour cream, 1/4 cup of bourbon and vanilla. Mix to combine and set aside.
4. Peel, core and dice apples to approximately 1 cm size. Mix apples and 2 Tbsps of bourbon in a bowl and set aside.
5. In another bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.
6. In a mixer bowl, beat together the brown butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Alternately add sour cream mixture and flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in three additions. Fold in the bourbon soaked apples then add into the prepared pan.
7. Bake until golden and apples are tender, approximately 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn onto a wired rack. Brush with bourbon syrup then cool completely.  
8. Finish with a dusting of sifted confectioners’ sugar (optional) and serve with bourbon apple compote and fresh whipped cream, if desired.

Bourbon Syrup

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup bourbon

Combine sugar and bourbon in a saucepan. Place on high heat and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and brush on the Bundt cake.

Bourbon Apple Compote

• 6 medium Pink Lady apples
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsps brown sugar
• 3 Tbsps unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp bourbon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Peel, core and slice apples.
2. Place butter in a saucepan and melt. Add the prepared apples and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup bourbon and cinnamon and continue to cook until the apples are tender and the liquid is evaporated.
4. Add 2 Tbsps of brown sugar and 1 Tbsp bourbon and cook on high to caramelize the apples.
5. Add vanilla and remove from heat.

Courtesy of Culinary Capers Catering