Orange and whiskey cake + more movies

As you know, horror movies scare the bejesus out of me, but my sister adores them – since she doesn’t complain about my movie choices I gather all the courage I have (which, to be honest, is practically none) and watch the scary movies with her – it wouldn’t be fair to deny her that, right? My defense mechanism consists on closing my eyes on the most frightening scenes and Jessica finds that really funny. :)
A couple of days ago we watched “Mama” and I’ll admit that I screamed a couple of times in the theater – yes, I am 34 and pathetic. :) Still, I liked the movie a lot but needed something lighter to decompress and nothing could have been more perfect than “Ruby Sparks”, which turned out to be one of the loveliest movies I have ever seen! A clever plot, a well written script, a great cast and beautiful music, all mixed in a movie that will make you feel moved yet good. It’s so adorable I wouldn’t mind watching it again anytime soon – I tend to repeat things I love, and Lisa Yockelson’s cakes fit that category; this orange whiskey version follows the butter rum cake formula – a tender cake laced with a boozy glaze –
and is equally delicious – whiskey is as good paired with citrus as it is with chocolate.

Orange and whiskey cake
slightly adapted from Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes

Cake:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons whiskey

Glaze:
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, chopped
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon whiskey
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan, flour it then remove the excess flour.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until soft. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Next, beat in the orange zest and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. On low speed, alternatively the flour mixture in three additions and the orange juice in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the whiskey.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes – in the meantime, make the glaze: combine all the ingredients in a small heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat.
Carefully unmold the cake onto the rack. Brush the cake generously with the hot syrup. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Serves 10-12