orange cornmeal cake with candied rosemary and orange bourbon soak

One of my favorite challenges in reworking or rethinking or creating a new recipe is to minimize waste. So, for instance, my preferred method of making macarons is to use a French buttercream as the base for the filling—which uses up all the egg yolks leftover from the macaron shell’s egg whites. (On that note, Sophie does have two great posts offering tips on using up leftover egg yolks and egg whites.)

Last winter I had this vision of a cake topped with candied rosemary as an elegant and unusual seasonal dessert. From there, the flavors of orange and bourbon seemed a natural fit.

When it came to the cake itself, I was immediately reminded of Sophie’s bourbon-inspired horseshoe rolls (perfect for a Kentucky Derby party!). While developing that recipe, Sophie found that the bourbon didn’t really shine when added to bread dough—it was easily overwhelmed by the complex flavors of the yeasted dough. Rather than continue wasting bourbon by adding it to new iterations of dough, she decided to create a bread dough with a flavor profile inspired by bourbon. Her rolls feature cornmeal, orange, honey and spice, and are complemented by a bourbon honey butter glaze.

With Sophie’s experience in mind, I honed in on what this dreamed-up dessert would look like. The base of the bake would be a buttery orange cornmeal cake.

Back to the beginning: most recipes for candying involve discarding the sugar and water liquid after you’re done boiling. I wondered…could the candying liquid for the candied orange and rosemary be redeemed by transforming it into a soak for the cake? That would solve the problem of waste, infuse the cake with the flavors of rosemary and orange, and give the dessert an appropriate finish.

The resulting cake was light yet flavorful, citrusy, slightly bitter, but with a woody punch from the candied rosemary, brightened with a dash of fresh orange juice and deepened with a few pours of bourbon in the candied syrup soak. It pairs wonderfully with whipped cream, or ice cream, and is a welcome light, wintry dessert.

orange cornmeal cake with candied rosemary and orange bourbon soak

Ingredients:

[For the candied rosemary and orange bourbon soak:]

1 orange
4-6 springs of fresh rosemary*
1 cup white sugar
water
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons orange juice
additional white sugar, for coating

[For the cake:]

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup white sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon orange zest
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted*
*if using salted butter, reduce salt above to 1/4 teaspoon

Directions:

Make the candied rosemary and orange bourbon soak. Use a pairing knife to score the orange peel into quarters lengthwise. Peel quarters and again use your pairing knife to remove as much as the pith (white stuff) from the rind as possible. Slice each quarter of peel into long thin strips. Refer to pictures below.
Place peel in the bottom of a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of cool water. Bring to a boil, and then drain the liquid. Repeat process two more times. (This helps to soften the rind and remove some of the bitterness.)
Return softened peel to saucepan, add 1 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the rosemary springs, making sure they are submerged in the syrup, and then simmer 5 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to remove the rosemary and orange peel from the syrup and set them aside to drain on a cooling rack. Whisk bourbon and orange juice into the warm syrup. Set aside to cool.
Gently toss the candied orange peel and rosemary in additional sugar until evenly coated. Set aside.
Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Add the milk mixture and the melted butter to the flour mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan, spread evenly, and bake at 350 degrees until golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
When done, remove cake from oven and right away run a knife all the way around the edge to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Place a cooling rack over the pan and invert so that the cake is top-down on the rack. Peel away parchment paper, place another cooling rack on top, and revert the cake so that it is right-side-up. Use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes all over.
Soak the cake. While the cake is still warm, begin to brush the candied rosemary orange bourbon soak all over. Be patient and let it soak in before adding more. It may look like way too much syrup, but if you go slowly and brush all over the top and sides, the cake will absorb it all. (Some will run off the sides, so it may be a good idea to place the cooling rack over a pan to catch any drips.)
When the cake is fully soaked and completely cooled, use a large spatula to carefully transfer it to a serving plate. Garnish with candied rosemary and orange peel. Serve on its own, or alongside whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

notes

candied rosemary: I originally used a full packet (8 springs) of rosemary and thought the rosemary came on a teensy bit strong in the soak, so would recommend reducing the amount to 4-6 springs. Both the candied orange and the candied rosemary springs are edible. If you don’t eat them all alongside the cake, save them as garnishes for cocktails! Or dice them up and use them in other desserts. (Candied citrus is particularly delicious in scones.)