Looking for Dundee Cake recipe, where the cake must be frequently fed with whisky

[whitelady]

Hello forum

I just registered here because I was hoping that someone can help me. In German cooking forums nobody seems to be able to - no wonder, I guess...

This year, I would very much like to bake a Whisky Dundee for Christmas. From what I´ve heard - and I would be most interested in a recipe like that -, this sort of cake must be fed with whisky over several weeks to mature it, and it is said that the taste becomes better, the longer it matures.

I´m looking for a recipe now, and I feel I´ve searched the whole internet (also here in the forum), but unfortunately to no avail...

I found many many recipes for Dundee cake, some of them don´t even use whisky to feed the cake, if at all, and some even say you can use rum or any other sort of spirit! (Which is totally out of the question, if it has to be a real Scottish Whisky Dundee, if you ask me.)

Does anyone of you have a recipe according to what I´ve heard? Or if no one does (I could also build some kind of a "cross section" of the recipes I found which sounded good), maybe someone could tell me please how many weeks you can store the cake (meaning, how many weeks before Christmas do I bake it), and how often do you feed it with how much whisky?

Thank you so much for your answers!

Cheers,
Nadine

[Polwarth]

I don't 'feed' my Dundee cakes - but I certainly do that to my Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings!

[whitelady]

Please forgive me if I used the wrong terms. I´m not a native speaker. I take it that in your sense, "feeding" means that you eat and enjoy your Christmas cakes and puddings? That´s good on you! I also do with mine.

Can anyone help me here? That would really be very appreciated. I don´t want to bake a Whisky Dundee at the end of November and find out at Christmas that it has gone bad... therefore I really would like to know how many weeks in advance you bake the cake.

Cheers,
Nadine

[Polwarth]

Well, good for you, eating a cake you've made.

BUT, that's not what 'feeding' means in this sense.

I bake the cakes (with whisky or brandy in the mix) - and then allow to cool and put in an airtight container. I then put holes in the cake with a meat skewer and drizzle brandy or whisky into the cakes, through the holes. I repeat this weekly for 4-6 weeks.

For information: Sarcasm might not be the best way to get an answer to a question

A traditional Dundee cake usually has whole almonds arranged in a pattern on the top. IMO: They would go rubbery in texture if you added lots of alcohol to them.

[Polwarth]

Like many British (not just Scottish) bakers, I cook the cakes and puddings on StirUp Sunday and then 'feed' the cakes/puddings between then and Christmas or Hogmanay (I also make a traditional Scottish black bun, which needs to be 'fed', too).

[whitelady]

Thank you so much, Polwarth, for your answer - that helps me very much indeed!

Sorry you mistook my answer for sarcasm - I really was insecure about what you meant with the feeding - I thought maybe I did get the meaning of that word wrong - and just wanted to be friendly... I apologize for that.

Ah - I see - so the almonds are the problem. Then I probably mixed up what I´ve heard about feeding the Dundee cake with whisky with another Christmas cake from the UK...

But it´s good to know that you can let the cake rest for 4 to 6 weeks. I think I´ll try it out nevertheless - maybe the almonds won´t go rubbery when I´m carefully avoiding them with the sprinkling...

[Polwarth]

You mistake what I've written, I don't keep Dundee cakes for 4-6 weeks, only Christmas cakes which are a richer fruit cake.

Dundee cakes don't last more than a week in my house!