Vaughn's Tipsy Cake recipe

[misterx]

You will need:

The Cake:

• 4 bags Martha White carrot cake muffin mix, with raisins.
  
• 1 bag Ocean Spray Craisins (dried cranberries), orange flavored. (http://www.oceanspray.com/products/craisins/orange.asp)
  
• 1/2 - 1 cup Grand Marnier. I don't know the exact amount I squeezed in.
  
• Butter
  
• Flour
  
• Bundt pan, should be roughly the size of a double layer cake. Mine looked like this... http://www.baking911.com/images/51240.gif

The Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons water
  
• 2 tablespoons half and half
  
• Powdered sugar.

You do the following:

• Prepare muffin mix according to directions (basically involves adding milk and stirring), adding in the dried cranberries.
  
• Butter the inside of the bundt pan thoroughly, and then put flour all over the butter... it prevents sticking. Pour in the batter.
  
• Bake the sucker. I reduced the recommended temperature by about 50 deg F because I wanted it to cook longer, to get a cake that was drier than normal (More room for the booze!). Well... the reduced baking time, coupled with the fact that a muffin the size of a bundt pan size takes longer to cook, results in a very looong cooking time. You'll just have to watch it, and test it by poking it with a toothpick. If the toothpic comes out without batter stuck to it, it's probably done. If it's smoking or you see flames, it's probably overdone.
  
• After letting it cool enough so it is warm to the touch, poke a bunch of holes in the bottom while it's still in the pan. These let the booze in.
  
• Slowly, ever so slowly, start pouring the Grand Marnier into the cake. It doesn't soak in immediately, so go slow. Put in enough, but not too much. As mentioned above, I estimate this is in the 1/2 cup to 1 cup range. Let it rest for a couple hours, while it soaks in a bit.
  
• This is optional, and possibly the most controversial step in this recipe... you squash the cake. I didn't want a cake-like cake, or even a muffin-like cake. I wanted something very dense, like a store-bought fruitcake, except tasty and alcoholic. So I tore strips of waxed paper, covered the cake (still in the pan), and manually pressed it down with my hand to moosh it. I would guess I mooshed 1/4 of it's height away. I think this was a good call in the end, but you may not be a cake moosher like me.
  
• Cover with saran wrap, and let it rest for 48-36 hours. This lets the Grand Marnier distribute evenly through the cake. At 24 hours, it had some serious "hot spots" that were unpleasant to bite into. At 48 hours, it was wonderful and mellow. 36 hours might have been even better, but it didn't last that long.
  
• Ok, it's time to turn the cake out! Turn your pan upside down onto a generously sized platter. It should be bigger than the cake.
  
• Prepare a glaze... combine the 2 tablespoons water with 2 tablespoons half-and-half (or eggnog!) and blend. Then start stirring in powdered sugar. Stop when it gets as thick as it can while still retaining a liquid consistancy. You want to be able to pour it smoothly over the cake.
  
• Drizzle/pour it over the cake. Let it set up a bit in the open air.
  
• Serve. Bask in greatness.