Bourbon and cake both make life better. Since bourbon is known for sweet notes of flavors like caramel, vanilla and fruit, it’s not surprising that plenty of recipes call for adding bourbon to your baking. 

But I’m also stingy with my spirits. 

I don’t have an unlimited whiskey budget. Adding booze to everything also isn’t great for my waistline or triglycerides.

Much (but not all) of the alcohol content evaporates during the cooking process. So I’ve long wondered: Is baking with booze worth the cost and the calories when I won’t even catch a buzz?

Still, people who are actually good at baking swear that adding bourbon is worth it. They say it adds a depth of flavor and pairs naturally with other ingredients, like butter and sugar. 

To investigate whether baking with bourbon is worth it, I decided to try making this Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cake recipe, courtesy of Food.com, mostly because it looked easy.

I hit the grocery store to buy the yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding and chopped walnuts the recipe features.

The rest of the ingredients consisted of basics you probably have in your fridge or pantry: milk, eggs, butter, oil and sugar.

I figured I should stick with a wheated bourbon since the flavor profile is much sweeter than rye, so I stopped by the liquor store for some Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

But as I pedaled my bike home from shopping, it hit me: Did I even own a Bundt pan? 

My first shot at baking with bourbon

Behold, a Bundt pan lay in my top kitchen cabinet shelf – the one I need a footstool to reach that’s home to all the kitchen equipment I never used.

Apparently, it was part of the 13-piece set of cheap ovenware I ordered from Amazon a few years back with the goal of embracing my inner Betty Crocker. 

After I mixed the cake ingredients together, I tasted the obligatory spoonful of cake batter.

Honestly, it wasn’t much different from a batter that uses vanilla extract in place of whiskey. Then again, the cake batter part of the recipe only called for 1.5 ounces of whiskey. 

But the frosting was a bit more boozy. It consisted of sugar, melted butter and a half cup of whiskey. Now we’re talking!

As I mixed the frosting ingredients together, my eyes began to water and burn. Clearly, it was the bourbon talking. I took a step back so I could finish stirring the frosting as directed.

After I’d frosted my masterpiece and let it cool, it was time for the taste test: Did bourbon really make my cake taste better?

Old-fashioned whiskey cake: A review

I cut myself a slice, but I couldn’t just scarf it down like I would with any ordinary baked good. I had to approach this tasting like a true whiskey connoisseur. 

You can’t exactly give cake a swirl, as you’d do during a proper whiskey tasting, but I started with a sniff.

On the nose, I detected a strong scent of cake, but not much more. 

Then, it was time for a taste. On the palette, there was also a strong flavor of… cake.

It wasn’t until the aftertaste that the bourbon hit me: It gave it a certain je ne sais quoi. If I were a whiskey snob, I’d say the bourbon gave it “complexity,” “depth” and “texture.”

In layperson’s terms, it tasted like I’d added several types of baking spices instead of just your standard sugar, oil and eggs. The aftertaste was more intense than you’d get if you used extract instead of bourbon.

For the record, it tasted nothing like an old-fashioned cocktail. But it was delicious, nonetheless. Maybe, if I whip out my Bundt pan again for a do-over, I’d add some cherries or dried orange slices for extra flavor and garnish.

Tips for baking with bourbon

If you want to experiment by baking with bourbon, here are a few tips to follow:

• Remember that some alcohol can remain even after you’ve baked the cake. If you’re baking for a crowd, make sure you give others a head’s-up that it contains alcohol.

• Make sure you ventilate. When I woke up the next morning, my kitchen still smelled like a whiskey bar. If I cook with bourbon again, I’ll make sure to open my kitchen window.

• Use a bourbon that’s easy to sip. Opt for a smooth bourbon that’s easy to sip. Those with a high rye content will make your sweet treats too harsh. But don’t waste your top-shelf bourbon on baking. Anything with strong vanilla and caramel notes should do the trick.