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Whiskey Date & Buttermilk Cake with Salted Pear Caramel Buttercream

The buttermilk brings a richness and moistness to this cake that's absolutely unreal. When paired with a salted caramel buttercream and a salted caramel drizzle, you've got some real magic on your hands!

Course Dessert
Keyword buttermilk cake
Servings 16 people
Calories 793 kcal

Ingredients

Whiskey Date & Buttermilk Cake

  • 6 ounces dates cut in half with pits removed
  • 1/4 cup good whiskey
  • 3 cups buttermilk
  • 4 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon  allspice
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Salted Pear Caramel

  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 small ripe pear (about 4 ounces) peeled cored and minced
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Salted Pear Caramel Buttercream

  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup caramel
  • 3 tablespoons whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon whiskey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Whiskey Date & Buttermilk Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Simmer the dates and whiskey in a small saucepan, covered, over low heat, until the dates absorb the whiskey and are soft when poked, about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool, then puree with the buttermilk until smooth. Set aside.

  2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and allspice until incorporated. Set aside.

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and honey until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Alternate between adding the buttermilk mixture and flour mixture to the cake batter until everything is incorporated and the batter just becomes smooth, wiping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula halfway through mixing.

  5. Evenly distribute the batter between 3 (8-inch) well-greased cake pans whose bottoms are lined with an 8-inch circle of parchment paper. Place the pans in the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans and allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.

Salted Pear Caramel

  1. While the cake is baking and cooling, you can prepare the caramel. Bring the granulated sugar, water, and minced pear to a boil over medium high heat and continue boiling until the mixture turns a light caramel color and smells pleasantly toasty, only stirring once every four minutes. This could take anywhere between 8 to 16 minutes, the speed will depend upon the heat intensity of your stovetop.

  2. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the heavy cream, brown sugar, and butter until incorporated. Be careful as the mixture will spit and hiss a bit. If the sugar begins to clump up when you're stirring do not fret, just stir as best as you can for about 30 seconds and then put the pot back on the heat and bring it back to a boil again over medium-low heat.

  3. Once it is boiling again, stir until the sugar chunk dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Once it smoothes out, stir it every minutes or so and allow the mixture to continue simmering and thickening. When the caramel holds its shape (rather than immediately disintegrating) when you put a drop of it in a cold glass of water, it's thickened enough. Remove from the pot from the heat, stir in the salt, and set aside to cool completely.

Salted Pear Caramel Buttercream

  1. Once the caramel has cooled, you can prepare the buttercream. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and caramel together at medium-low speed until relatively smooth. Add the whipping cream, whiskey, vanilla, and salt and increase the speed to medium, beating until the buttercream is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

  2. Layer and ice the cake with the buttercream. Place the iced cake over a square of paper towels and pour 1/2 cup of the salted pear caramel sauce over the cake, allowing the excess to drop onto the towels. Garnish with fresh fruits and herbs and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Whiskey Date & Buttermilk Cake with Salted Pear Caramel Buttercream
Amount Per Serving
Calories 793 Calories from Fat 288
% Daily Value*
Fat 32g49%
Saturated Fat 19g119%
Cholesterol 120mg40%
Sodium 689mg30%
Potassium 250mg7%
Carbohydrates 120g40%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 93g103%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 1090IU22%
Vitamin C 0.6mg1%
Calcium 113mg11%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.