Scotch Whiskey Cake Recipe (2024)

by Jillian Leslie on February 06, 2014

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This beautifully- spiced Scotch Whiskey Cake is laced with whiskey-soaked plump raisins and tingles with all things spice.

I love serving this classic and elegant cake at an all-adult party; it’s perfect for a special occasion like a New Year’s Party; check out our New Year’s Eve printables and themes for ideas!

This cake is not just for whiskey lovers; not all of us like to drink whiskey, but this cake is delicious! It’s moist, filled with boozy raisins, and has a sweet, buttery flavor that is to die for.

This cake is perfect for New Year’s Eve, and here are 9 New Year’s Eve Party Ideas to help you plan out your evening.

Take time planning your ultimate New Year’s Eve Setup, and we have tons of fun New Year’s Eve-themed ideas, and supplies such as these DIY Glittered Flutes, Free Printables, and tons of themes to inspire you.

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Reasons To Love This Cake

Sophisticated flavors: whiskey, ginger, and buttery vanilla with a tickle of cinnamon.
A conversation starter: this cake will draw plenty of attention, comments, and questions about its flavor.
Impressive presentation: this elegant cake is beautifully laid out on a table.
A taste of Scotland! If you’re into Scottish culture, then you will love this authentic-feeling cake.
Perfect for a special occasion like New Year’s Eve or a 50th Birthday party.
Versatile: serve it as dessert (warm), with coffee, or as an afternoon treat.

Ingredients and Supplies

Here’s what you need to make this crowd-pleaser:

Raisins. These will get soaked overnight in whiskey and are the real showstoppers in this cake.
Butter. Choose unsalted butter if you can. Plant-based and margarine will also be perfect in this recipe.
Brown sugar. Goes beautifully with the butter and whiskey flavors.
Eggs. Have them at room temperature when you’re ready to bake. I always choose large eggs for cake baking.
Caster sugar. Don’t switch out for white sugar, or it will impact the cake’s texture.
Vanilla essence. You can also use vanilla extract or vanilla seeds if that’s what you have.
Greek yogurt. Plain, full-fat yogurt or buttermilk will work well in this recipe. This ingredient is responsible for the incredibly moist texture of this cake.
Plain flour. All-purpose is perfect; you can use gluten-free flour in this recipe and have a gluten-free cake.
Ground ginger. This spice will further enhance the glace ginger in the recipe.
Cinnamon. If you don’t have any, you can leave it out.
Baking powder and baking soda. The chemical raising agents in this recipe.
Glace ginger. Gives a lovely zing and goes beautifully with the whiskey.
Whiskey. You can use absolutely any whiskey for this cake. If you’re a whiskey drinker, then ensure you use your favorite brand.
Icing sugar. Regular powdered sugar is fine; ensure it’s sieved and lump-free.
Bundt tin. You’ll need to grease and flour the tin well to avoid issues getting the cake out.

How To Make This Scotch Whiskey Cake

This is a relatively simple cake to make; just follow the steps and instructions closely.

Step 1: Prepare the tin

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease your bundt tin and then lightly dust with flour. Gently knock the sides of the pan and tip any loose flour out.

Step 2: Make the cake batter

Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy, then add the eggs, mixing as you add each one.

Tip in the yogurt and vanilla essence, then add flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.

Step 3: Adding the raisins

Your raisins would have soaked overnight in whiskey. Drain the raisins (save any excess whiskey for the drizzle) and add them to the cake mix along with the ginger pieces stirring gently.

Step 4: Baking the cake

Tip the mixture into the bundt tin and spread until the mixture is evenly distributed.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed.

Step 5: The Drizzle

Make the whiskey drizzle by combining the whiskey and brown sugar and stirring well.

Once the cake is cooked, leave it to cool in the pan slightly, then tip it onto a cooling wire rack.

Poke holes in the top of the cake using a skewer, and then pour the drizzle over while still warm. Allow it to cool completely.

Step 6: Make the frosting

To make the icing (frosting), put the butter into a heavy-bottomed pan and melt, then, stirring all the time, allow bubbling until it turns golden brown.

Let it cool until just warm, then mix in the icing sugar and whiskey until it forms a smooth paste.

Tips and Substitutions

Although you can absolutely use a regular whiskey, you will definitely taste the flavor, and a higher quality whiskey will stand out.
Use unsalted butter, as it allows you to control how much salt is going into the cake.
If you don’t want to use whiskey or if you’re going to try another alcohol, consider rum or brandy.
You can add other ingredients to your cake like nuts, glace cherries, and seeds.
If you don’t want a thick wad of frosting, you can make a simple whiskey glaze instead of the frosting.
For a more decadent version, consider a whiskey ganache for this cake; it will make it extra indulgent.

FAQs

What is Scotch whiskey cake?

It’s a buttery, vanilla, and Scotch whiskey-flavored cake with a deeply rich and complex flavor.

Do I need to use real whiskey in the cake, or can I use whiskey flavoring?

You can use whiskey flavoring, but it won’t have the same flavor depth as real whiskey.

Can I make an alcohol-free version of a scotch whiskey cake?

Yes, you can substitute the whiskey with apple cider; keep in mind this will affect the overall flavor.

Scotch Whiskey Cake Recipe

A rich and buttery cake, filled with grown-up flavors like whiskey, glace ginger and cinnamon.

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Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Course: cake

Cuisine: Scottish

Equipment

▢
1 Bundt Tin

Ingredients

▢ 1 ½ cups raisins
▢ 1 cup butter
▢ 1 cup golden caster sugar
▢ 3 unit eggs
▢ 1 tsp vanilla essence
▢ 1 cup Greek yogurt
▢ 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
▢ 2 tsp ground ginger
▢ 1 tsp cinnamon
▢ 1 tsp baking powder
▢ ½ tsp baking soda
▢ 2 TBS glace ginger
▢ Scotch whiskey

For the whiskey drizzle

▢ 3 TBS Scotch whiskey
▢ ⅓ cup brown sugar

For the frosting

▢ ½ cup butter
▢ 3 cups Icing sugar
▢ 3 TBS Scotch whiskey

Instructions

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease your bundt tin and then lightly dust with flour. Gently knock the sides of the pan and tip any loose flour out.
Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy, then add the eggs, mixing as you add each one.
Tip in the yogurt and vanilla essence, then add the flour, spices and baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.
Your raisins would have soaked overnight in whiskey. Drain the raisins (save any excess whiskey for the drizzle) and add them to the cake mix along with the ginger pieces stirring gently.
Tip the mixture into the bundt tin and spread until the mixture is evenly distributed.
Bake for approximately 1 hour or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed.

Make the drizzle

Make the whiskey drizzle by combining the whiskey and brown sugar and stirring well.
Once the cake is cooked, leave to cool in the pan slightly, then tip onto a cooling wire rack.
Poke holes in the top of the cake using a skewer, and then pour the drizzle over whilst still warm. Allow to cool completely.

Make the frosting

To make the icing (frosting), put the butter into a heavy-bottomed pan and melt, then, stirring all the time, allow bubbling until it turns golden brown.
Let it cool until just warm, then mix in the icing sugar and whiskey until it forms a smooth paste.
Spoon it on top of your cake and let it drip down the sides a bit.

Notes

A simple process of adding the wet to the dry ingredients, you’ll love how easy it is to whip up this rich tasting whiskey-flavored cake.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Comment

2 comments

Jane U wrote:

I was all excited when I saw this was a recipe from the UK - finally a recipe NOT in cups!! Oh no!! What a disappointment! I have tried conversion tables and I even have measuring cups but recipes just don't work! How on earth do you measure a cup of butter? I have heard that in the US butter is sold in sticks and a number of sticks makes a cup! But that doesn't help us Europeans. Do you have this recipe in grams or ounces? Thanks

Feb 01, 2018
Jillian L wrote:

Sorry about that! One stick of butter in the US is 1/2 cup, so that's why it's easy for us. Converting to grams, you can use this guideline:1 stick butter is 1/2 cup or 115g2 sticks butter is 1 cup or 225gNote they are approximations, so that's why 2 sticks is 225g, not 230g. :)

Feb 01, 2018

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