By Alex Witchel
- Total Time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(123)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This recipe is adapted from the “I Hate to Cook Book” by Peg Bracken, the 1960 iconic bestseller that had the nerve to say then what so many women felt: They liked cooking fine, as long as they didn’t have to cook all the time. As her recipes were meant to do, this bread comes together fast, and you don’t need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. It will also keep for a long time, especially if it is soaked with a little whiskey every now and then. The first step is up to you.
Featured in: PEG BRACKEN | B. 1918
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Ingredients
Yield:Makes 1 loaf
- ¼cup bourbon, plus more for you
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1cup flour, plus more for dusting
- 1cup sugar
- 3large eggs, beaten
- ½teaspoon baking powder
- ¼teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼cup milk
- ¼cup molasses
- ¼teaspoon baking soda
- 1cup raisins
- 1cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
277 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 99 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
First, take the bourbon out of the cupboard and have a small snort for medicinal purposes. Now, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the beaten eggs, a little at a time.
Step
2
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg, and add to the batter. Then beat in the milk. Combine the molasses and baking soda and mix into the batter. To help prevent the raisins and pecans from sinking, dust them with flour, shaking off excess. Mix them, along with the bourbon, into the batter until combined. Transfer to the loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes up clean, 1¾ to 2 hours.
Tip
- Whiskey cake keeps practically forever, wrapped in aluminum foil, in your refrigerator. It gets better and better too, if you buck it up once in a while by using an eyedropper to add a little more whiskey.
Ratings
4
out of 5
123
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Cooking Notes
Regine C
Cake is delicious. I like the texture too. It was surprisingly light and spongy. 2 things though. First, I skipped the nutmeg and instead added 1 tsp vanilla extract. Second, because most of the nuts and raisins sank at the bottom of the pan, it was hard to unmold the finished cake. Some nuts/raisins were stuck at the bottom of the pan so my unmolded cake did not look perfect. Next time, I will try to use parchment paper and let it hang outside pan so I can lift cake out of pan.
Cathy
You’ll find that if you toss the nuts, etc in a bit of flour they won’t sink to the bottom.
Elizabeth Miller
Mom loved Peg Bracken. She had a lot more to say to women of her day than the Times food writers let on.
Judith Terry
My sister called me from Veneta Oregon to tell me the Hootenholler Whiskey cake that she made for a charity auction just sold for $85.00! That is how good this cake is. I made it early and often in the '60's and '70's when we were traveling the world in the Air Force. It was a never fail hit!!
Susan R
These are delicious-- and so easy to make!I made mine in mini-loaf tins, to make them easier to give to friends (which was difficult, once I tried one of them). Baking time is, of course, much less (around 50 minutes). Parchment is really a must.
Lindsey
It tastes great (is it a bread or a cake?), but this made way too much mixture for my 8 & 1/2 by 4 & 1/2 loaf pan. Maybe it was too shallow. When I poured it in, the mixture came almost to the top and I thought, "Yeah. This'll be a disaster." Should've listened to myself and used my much larger bundt pan. There is about a cup of mixture on the bottom of my oven, which seems about right now that I add the cup capacity of the ingredients. No way 6ish cups was going to fit in my standard loaf pan.
Colleen
Made without bourbon, and replaced 1 c. raisins with 1/2 c. raisins + 1/2 c. dried sour cherries. Delicious!
Michael
Delicious, though the fruit and nuts will sink to the bottom no matter what you do. Be careful on the baking time, and start checking progress after the first hour. This takes 85 minutes in my gas oven, using a metal loaf pan of the specified size.
Susan
I dusted the nuts and raisins with flour - the raisins all sunk to the bottom and the nuts rose to the top of the cake. Still tasted delicious! We love the molasses flavor so next time I am going to try leaving out the milk, substituting it with extra molasses and whisky. Also I will add more fruit and nuts.
Beagle
This is a simple and delicious recipe.I was looking for something I could throw together with what was laying around, and this was perfect.Its a different flavor, something that was new to me, and my wife, but will be something for my recipe book going forward
RB
I cut the sugar to 3/4 cup. I put nuts and dried fruit in a bowl then after buttering and flouring the loaf pan dump the excess flour into nut and fruit bowl to covering them while preparing rest of the cake.This bread/cake is so flavorful and moist. Delicious definitely will be made again and again.Loved the humor in step 1 of recipe
Wendy
Very tasty! The second time I made it I soaked the raisins in (more) bourbon. Perfection.
Evan
Totally delicious! The molasses and whisky are not shy flavors in this. I might reduce them a smidge next time (there will be a next time!). Might also reduce the sugar by a fair bit...this verges on being a cake. A full cup each of raisins and nuts made for really great texture and flavor, though!
Susan R
These are delicious-- and so easy to make!I made mine in mini-loaf tins, to make them easier to give to friends (which was difficult, once I tried one of them). Baking time is, of course, much less (around 50 minutes). Parchment is really a must.
Beagle
This is a simple and delicious recipe.I was looking for something I could throw together with what was laying around, and this was perfect.Its a different flavor, something that was new to me, and my wife, but will be something for my recipe book going forward
Susan
I dusted the nuts and raisins with flour - the raisins all sunk to the bottom and the nuts rose to the top of the cake. Still tasted delicious! We love the molasses flavor so next time I am going to try leaving out the milk, substituting it with extra molasses and whisky. Also I will add more fruit and nuts.
Michael
Delicious, though the fruit and nuts will sink to the bottom no matter what you do. Be careful on the baking time, and start checking progress after the first hour. This takes 85 minutes in my gas oven, using a metal loaf pan of the specified size.
Colleen
Made without bourbon, and replaced 1 c. raisins with 1/2 c. raisins + 1/2 c. dried sour cherries. Delicious!
Lindsey
It tastes great (is it a bread or a cake?), but this made way too much mixture for my 8 & 1/2 by 4 & 1/2 loaf pan. Maybe it was too shallow. When I poured it in, the mixture came almost to the top and I thought, "Yeah. This'll be a disaster." Should've listened to myself and used my much larger bundt pan. There is about a cup of mixture on the bottom of my oven, which seems about right now that I add the cup capacity of the ingredients. No way 6ish cups was going to fit in my standard loaf pan.
Cathy
You’ll find that if you toss the nuts, etc in a bit of flour they won’t sink to the bottom.
Michaela
I still have her cookbook. It is priceless!
Regine C
Cake is delicious. I like the texture too. It was surprisingly light and spongy. 2 things though. First, I skipped the nutmeg and instead added 1 tsp vanilla extract. Second, because most of the nuts and raisins sank at the bottom of the pan, it was hard to unmold the finished cake. Some nuts/raisins were stuck at the bottom of the pan so my unmolded cake did not look perfect. Next time, I will try to use parchment paper and let it hang outside pan so I can lift cake out of pan.
Judith Terry
My sister called me from Veneta Oregon to tell me the Hootenholler Whiskey cake that she made for a charity auction just sold for $85.00! That is how good this cake is. I made it early and often in the '60's and '70's when we were traveling the world in the Air Force. It was a never fail hit!!
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