Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- Plain dry breadcrumbs for dusting
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 3 tablespoons local honey
- 2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 8 ounces (1 cup) fresh ricotta, such as Narragansett Creamery
- 4 large fresh farm eggs
- Finely grated zest and 6 tablespoons juice of 3 blood (or navel) oranges
- Finely grated zest and 1 tablespoon juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- Confectioners’ sugar for serving (optional)
- Homemade whipped cream for serving (optional)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons local honey
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray to coat evenly. Lightly dust pan with plain dried breadcrumbs, tapping out any excess.
Sift flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Heat bourbon and honey over warm heat until honey is just dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Combine butter, sugar and ricotta in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping bowl as needed.
Add grated orange and lemon zest to the bowl along with the buttermilk. Mix briefly, then add the orange juice, lemon juice and honey bourbon mixture. Add 1⁄3 of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add remaining flour, making sure to scrape sides of the bowl as you go. Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top.
Bake for 65 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Be sure to rotate the cake every 15 minutes or so.
While the cake is baking, make the glaze. Heat sugar, honey and bourbon in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is totally dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, add the orange juice.
When the cake is done baking, remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
Carefully invert the cake onto a cooling rack placed over a rimmed baking sheet.
Brush the glaze over the warm cake. Be sure to brush the entire cake and use up all of the syrup. Allow to cool. Just before serving, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
About this recipe
WINE PAIRING: Vidal Ice Wine, Newport Vineyards—Middletown, Rhode Island
There are many great wine options right in our backyard here in Rhode Island. Newport Vineyards’ Vidal Ice Wine is one of them. This dessert wine has a silky, medium body with a hint of acidity, making it a great food partner. Its sweet flavor profile of honey, cream and apricots will dovetail well with the flavors of bourbon, honey and citrus in this delicious cake.
—Jessica Norris Granatiero, The Savory Grape, East Greenwich
