Your Basic Pound Cake Just Got A Boozy Bourbon Makeover

On its own, pound cake is deliciously old-school. As the pound cake name suggests, the classic recipe called for a pound of sugar, a pound of flour, a pound of butter, and a pound of eggs to build a super dense cake recipe you'd be hard-pressed to forget. Today's pound cake recipes are usually much lighter (thank you leavening agents), vanilla flavored, and with a more tender crumb structure. But with such a simple canvas to start with, it's no surprise that today's best chefs and recipe developers use the basic pound cake combination as just the beginning. Ina Garten's perfect pound cake recipe includes a little lemon zest. Jacques Pépin upgrades his version with jam. Our recommendation? Get a little boozy with bourbon.

Bourbon, with its warm, woodsy notes and sweet aromas of caramel and vanilla, is the perfect complement to classic pound cake. Its bold aroma rounds out the sugar-sweet taste of the cake and gives the dessert a more flavorful complexity. Even better, the amount of booze you add is up to you. If you want the flavor without the head rush, stick to adding a quarter cup of bourbon in the batter. That alcohol-forward flavor will largely bake out in the oven. If you want a powerful whiff, add another quarter cup to your pound cake glaze. Either way, be sure to use your best, smoothest bourbon. The goal is to kick this cake into high gear, not to knock you senseless.

If your classic pound cake recipe is built for a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan, a quarter cup of bourbon is perfect for both the batter and the glaze. If you're using a single bread loaf pan, cut that amount in half. While adding bourbon to your batter before baking will give your cake a subtle, spicier spin, the true boozy upgrade lies in the glaze. If you like the look of a thicker, white icing, whisk together bourbon, powdered sugar, and heavy cream until it's perfectly pourable. This will give your pound cake a professional, pastry case-ready appearance with a welcome, zippy kick.

If you'd rather give your pound cake a glossy look and a powerful, bourbon-forward taste, make a thinner glaze by mixing together butter, granulated sugar, and bourbon over low heat. After your pound cake has cooled out of the oven, poke several holes throughout the cake and dab half of your glaze over the surface of the cake. Let the glaze soak deeply into the cake for at least half an hour before going back over the entire surface area with the rest of the glaze. This method not only packs a flavorful punch but keeps your pound cake moist for much longer.