Chocolate Whiskey Cake

There’s a cute story behind this recipe.  Medora III took a pledge when she was a teenager to never let a drop of the ‘ol demon rum pass her lips.  And at the age of 93, she has yet to imbibe either a beer, cocktail or glass of wine.  Her family – self included – has tried to convince her that at her age, the pledge has probably long expired. To this day, even when everyone else is enjoying a toast or a sip, the strongest thing she drinks is iced tea.  HOWEVER, she never hesitated to cook with whiskey.  It seemed to be her flavoring of choice as another holiday favorite of hers was whiskey balls, which, by the way, aren’t cooked.  This means that the alcohol content in the balls remained – it wasn’t cooked out as in the recipe below. When I pointed out this fact to her, she just smiled.  I’ll post the whiskey ball recipe later.

CHOCOLATE WHISKEY CAKE

Preheat oven to 350°.

Spray a 9” X 13” pan with non-stick baking spray with flour.

Place 2 cups of chopped pecans on an ungreased cookie sheet and put in oven.  Toast for 6 – 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.

In a bowl, combine:

1 1 pound, 2.25 ounce package of Devil’s food cake mix. (Medora III likes Duncan Hines)

1 cup of buttermilk

2/3 cup of canola oil

3 eggs

¼ cup of whiskey

With an electric mixer, beat at low speed until combined.  Then, increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.  Stir in:

            1 cup of miniature semisweet chocolate chips

            1 cup of toasted, cooled pecans

Pour batter into the prepared pan and place in pre-heated oven.  Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool before frosting with:

            2 16 ounce cans of milk chocolate frosting (Medora III likes Pillsbury)

Top frosting with:

            1 cup of the remaining toasted, cooled pecans