Dessert: Porter Bundt Cake with Whiskey-Caramel Sauce

Recipe by Courtney Contos This richly flavored cake features quintessential Irish ingredients such as dark porter beer, dark brown sugar and whiskey.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Cinnamon

Health benefits of Porter Bundt Cake with Whiskey-Caramel Sauce

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060).

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups porter
1 cup unsulfured molasses
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup cocoa nibs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs

Instructions

Make the cake Preheat the oven to 350 °. In a large saucepan, whisk 1 cup of the porter with the molasses and bring just to a boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the baking soda and let cool completely.
Make the cake In a medium saucepan, whisk the maple syrup with the remaining 1/2 cup of porter and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half and syrupy, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
Make the cake Meanwhile, butter a 10-inch Bundt pan and dust with flour; shake off the excess. In a large bowl, whisk the 3 cups of flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cocoa nibs. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the 1/2 sticks of butter with the brown and granulated sugars at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, until just incorporated. At low speed, beat in the cooled porter-molasses mixture, then gradually beat in the dry ingredients.
Make the cake Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in the center of the oven for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes. Invert the warm cake onto a rack and brush with the cooled porter-syrup mixture.
Make the sauce In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar with the water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, without stirring, until an amber caramel forms. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream and whiskey. Cook over low heat for 1 minute. Let cool slightly.
Make the sauce Cut the cake into wedges and serve, passing the warm whiskey caramel at the table.