Amaretto Cake

Yesterday was my grandma's birthday, so in her honor I made her Amaretto Cake recipe. Even though she lives 2000 miles away and I can't celebrate with her in person, eating her cake is kind of like a getting a little hug from her. Happy Birthday Nona!

Brett and I aren't drinkers at all, but we do have a big bottle of Amaretto in the cabinet just for this cake. I also have to go to a different grocery store to get orange cake mix which is kind of hard to find. If you can't find it, you can just use yellow cake mix, but the orange really gives it extra oomph.



I have a beautiful chrysanthemum bundt pan that I make this in. Thank goodness for "Pam for Baking!" The pan is difficult to clean but I think the pros far outweigh the cons. One little petal broke off, but I kind of just stuck it back on there.

The cake is very easy to make until the last step. The first time I did this I was very scared. This time at least I knew what to expect but I was still a little bit concerned. You take 1/2 a cup of Amaretto put it in a saucepan and light it with a match. We had some great blue flames, and it burned for a long time (maybe a minute.) All the alcohol burns out and when the fire dies all the way down you pour it over the cake. Unfortunately the flash on the camera made the flames invisible. It was quite a show.

Brett and I ate the super moist cake, telepathically wished Nona a happy birthday, and watched the Olympics. What a great night!

Amaretto Cake

1 box of yellow or orange cake mix

3.5 oz package of vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup amaretto

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix everything together, pour into a bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from the pan and while the cake is still warm, put another 1/2 cup of amaretto in a saucepan and light it with a match. When the alcohol burns out (the flame goes out), pour it over the cake.