Amaretto Bundt Cake

Amaretto Bundt Cake is a delicious bundt cake with the fabulous flavor of Amaretto and a sweet Amaretto glaze.

Amaretto is an almond flavored liqueur that is often used in baked goods or cocktails. This liqueur may or may not contain actual almonds (it can be made from apricot pits, peach stones or almonds). Amaretto means “a little bitter” in Italian.

April 19th is National Amaretto Day. Celebrate by drinking a glass of Amaretto liqueur, make your favorite cocktail with Amaretto, add it to your coffee or food preparation, or bake this Amaretto Bundt Cake! Share your Amaretto treat on social media using the hashtag #NationalAmarettoDay or #AmarettoDay.

“Candy is dandy, but liqueur is quicker.”

-Roald Dahl

The History of Amaretto:

In 1525, an artist was commissioned to paint the Virgin Mary in a Soronno (Italian) church. He used a young widow in the town as his muse. She fell madly in love with the artist during the project, and gave him a flask of liqueur as a gift (apricot kernels steeped in brandy with added spices). In 1600, Giovanni Reina discovered the young widow’s recipe, and began passing it down in his family from generation to generation. In the early 20th century, a member of the Reina family began producing Amaretto di Soronno. The company is still owned and operated by the Reina family to this day.

The same family that created Amaretto cookies (the Lazzaroni family) also claimed fame to having been the creators of Amaretto. They made Amaretto cookies for the King of the region in 1786. In 1851, they created an Amaretto liqueur. Their version, however, was very different- the liqueur was created by steeping Amaretto cookies in alcohol.

How to make Amaretto Bundt Cake:

Place chopped nuts in the bottom of a bundt pan. Amaretto is an almond liqueur, so you can certainly use chopped almonds. We used chopped pecans in the photos for this cake. It’s good with both almonds or pecans!

The batter is made using a yellow cake mix combined with a box of vanilla pudding, eggs, oil, water and Amaretto. The batter is poured right over the nuts in the pan, and then the cake is baked until golden.

When you pop the cake onto a rack, the nuts will be on top of the cake! Then you’ll mix up the glaze. It’s a mix of butter, water, sugar and Amaretto. The glaze is spooned over the top of the cake.

The result is a sweet and very moist cake with the delicious flavor of Amaretto liqueur.

Of course, I suggest serving it with a little bit of the liqueur itself, if you wish. Or add it to coffee!

Keep leftovers wrapped or in a well-sealed container. Everyone will love this cake. Enjoy!

10 Ways to use Amaretto:

• Make a cocktail (like an Amaretto Sour), or add it to coffee.
• Use Amaretto as a flavoring for chocolate truffles.
• Add it to sautéed bananas, and use those to top ice cream.
• Use Amaretto in dessert sauces, like butterscotch or caramel.
• Bake Amaretto cookies.
• Use it to make an almondine sauce for fish and vegetables.
• Steep cherries with Amaretto to add to cocktails.
• Add it to jam.