Jameson Irish Coffee Trifle

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And now for something a little different…  We have kept the focus on green and healthy so far this month, but there is a holiday approaching, and holidays are a little different.  With all respect to health, a holiday is just that.  A holiday.  It calls for coloring outside the lines a little bit.  Celebrating and enjoying it.

And so, I was trying to hunt down a bottle of whiskey at 6 a.m. this morning.  I have had visions of this recipe for quite some time.  It has come in several flavors and colors.  It has had different ingredients.  But it is always in an Irish coffee mug and it always has Irish whiskey in it.

I still had two Jameson Irish Whiskey Cakes wrapped up in my freezer, so I used them when I made this.  Do the same if you happen to have cake on hand, or you can start at the beginning and make the cakes now.  While your little cakes are infusing, make some pudding from scratch.  It makes all the difference in the world, and in this case, it is going to be served warm, so it is definitely worth the effort.  I used dark cocoa powder in this recipe, because I wanted my pudding to be very dark, like coffee.

You are also going to make a quick simple syrup (Coffee-Whiskey Drizzle) and whip some fresh cream.  This is special!  Take a minute now and put your bowl and beaters into the freezer so they are icy cold and ready for when you make whipped cream.

Here is the recipe for the Jameson Irish Whiskey Cake.  It uses a cake mix and a pudding mix.  You can use your favorite chocolate cake recipe if you want, but I think that this recipe gives stellar results with regard to alcohol infusion.   (Just ask the Bacardi people, as this is a riff on their fabulous Bacardi Cake recipe.)  Also, to get the most out of that alcohol infusing, I strongly suggest that you use mini Bundt pans.  They will give you the biggest bang for your buck, and that is absolutely what an alcohol infused cake is all about, isn’t it?

 

Jameson Irish Whiskey Cake

Cake:

1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. (3 3/4 oz.)  chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey 

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter
14 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease and flour 6 cake mini Bundt pan.  Combine all cake ingredients.  Blend well.  With electric mixer at medium speed, beat 2 minutes.  Measure 1/4 cup batter and fill each mold approximately half full.  Bake 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Cool.  Invert on serving plate.  Wash pan, grease and flour, and repeat to make six more cakes.

Prepare glaze in saucepan by melting butter over medium heat.  Stir in water and sugar and boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in whiskey.  Spoon or pour glaze into the bottom of each cake mold so that it covers the entire bottom of mold.  Using a fork, gently poke holes into the decorative top of each cake.  Transfer cakes back into molds and poke holes into bottom of cakes.  Pour warm glaze generously over each cake and let sit several hours or more to absorb glaze.  Remove cakes from pan.  Repeat glazing process with remaining 6 cakes.

 

Coffee-Whiskey Drizzle 

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 Starbucks Via packet
1 very generous tablespoon (or more) Jameson Irish Whiskey

Bring water to a boil.  Dissolve sugar in boiling water, stirring constantly.  Once sugar is completely dissolved, remove pan from heat.  Add Via packet and stir until dissolved.  Add Irish Whiskey and stir.

Freshly Whipped Cream 

1 cup organic heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon powdered confectioners sugar

Pour whipping cream into pre-chilled glass measure and whip until stiff peaks form.  Add powdered sugar to taste and whip just briefly to incorporate.

Hershey’s Quick, Creamy Chocolate Pudding

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2  1/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium saucepan and stir to combine.  Gradually stir in milk.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.  Stir one minute.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Cover warm surface of pudding with waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming on top.  Do not refrigerate, but keep off heat and allow to stay warm for assembly.

 

Jameson Irish Coffee Trifle

Assembly:

Cut whiskey cake in half, horizontally, using a serrated knife.  Cut each half into small, 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks.  Spoon 1 tablespoonful warm pudding into bottom of Irish coffee mug to cover bottom surface of mug.  Add 2 or 3 chunks of cake.  Drizzle cake with coffee-whiskey drizzle, using a small teaspoon.  Add tablespoon of warm pudding.  Repeat making layers of cake, drizzle, and pudding until glass is mostly full.  Top with freshly whipped cream.

 

I used a very small amount of the coffee-whiskey syrup when I drizzled.  You just want to flavor and moisten the cake a bit with the coffee/liquor.  Don’t over-do it.  Extra syrup can be stored in a covered glass jar, or use it to make more Irish coffee.  And… no one’s watching you.  You could definitely throw a shot of whiskey, just for good measure, right over the top of the whole thing.  Maybe even bring out a tray of them, and let your guests do the honors.  Put that whipped cream on top, and celebrate like the Irish do.