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Spruce Tip Beer Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce

Avatar photoMiche Genest
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Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Spruce Tip Beer Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce

  • 3/4 cup 6 oz butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup spruce tip sugar recipe follows
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla bourbon, or whisky
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1 1/2 cups spruce tip beer try Winterlong or Yukon Brewing
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup chopped dried apricots

Spruce Tip Sugar

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dried fresh, or frozen and thawed spruce tips

Caramel Sauce

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup 35% cream
  • 1 tsp bourbon

Instructions
 

Spruce Tip Sugar

  • Combine sugar and spruce tips in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly blended and spruce tips are pulverized.
  • Store in a jar in the cupboard and use any extra in spruce tip shortbreads, sprinkled on top of sugar cookies, or in gingerbread. Substitute 1/4 to 1/2 of the sugar called for in the recipe with spruce tip sugar.

Cake

  • Grease and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan, or a 9 x 13 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350F.
  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla, bourbon or whisky.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices until thoroughly blended.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in two batches, alternating with the beer, stirring well after each addition.
  • At the end, stir in pecans and apricots, making sure they’re distributed evenly.
  • Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon dipped in hot water.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes (Bundt pan) or 35 minutes (9 x 13-inch pan), until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  • Cool on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Loosen the cake from the Bundt pan with a slim bladed knife, place a serving plate over top and flip the pan upside down so the cake is transferred to the plate. Just leave the 9 x 13 cake in the pan.
  • Pour caramel sauce over top of the Bundt cake so it drips down the sides and reserve some sauce for the table. For the 9 x 13 cake, slice and serve the cake and drizzle sauce over each piece, passing reserved sauce at the table.

Caramel Sauce

  • Place ingredients, except bourbon, in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Once blended, cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Add bourbon at the end.
  • Remove from heat and allow to sit for a few minutes before pouring over the cake. Decant extra syrup into a small jug or bowl for serving at the table. Refrigerate sauce in a covered jar—it will keep for several days. Warm up a bit before serving.