Food Pairing // Glenmorangie’s “A Tale of Cake” & ‘London Fog and Earl Grey Butter Cream’ Trifle
Before I start, a small disclaimer. The recipe my partner decided to follow might not have been the most ideal. Our London Fog Cake ended up a bit raw on the inside. Also, our kitchen robot broke while making the butter cream. But that did not stop us! Instead of using the classic ‘cake’ format, my partner decided to turn everything into a trifle. When life gives you lemons…
Text is © Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
Photography is © Glenmorangie
A couple of weeks ago, I received a sample bottle of Glenmorangie’s newest limited edition expression, “A Tale of Cake”, conjured up by Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation, Dr Bill Lumsden, who ‘found himself musing over how some of his most joyful memories came from cake’ (glenmorangie.com).
He set out to create a whisky that doesn’t only bring you that sense of ‘cake’ and ‘desserts’ in liquid form, but also a whisky that can be paired easily with a multitude of desserts. For this, a whisky was selected that was aged first on bourbon casks, and then finished on Hungarian ex-Tokaji wine casks, a sweet wine from the Tokaj region in Hungary & Slovakia.
When I first tried this dram, I was a bit disappointed. It did not offer a lot of scents or flavours, which I thought was rather peculiar. True, Glenmorangie is not the kind of brand that offers powerhouses on the whisky shelf, choosing instead for more subtle, delicate expressions. But nothing substantial? No, impossible.
So I did what every baker knows is the best strategy to adopt when it seems like things are not quite right: I gave it some time. Literally. After 5 minutes, aromas started to show themselves in the dram. Delicate scents and flavours, quite similar to refined pastries, were developing in my Glencairn.
On the nose, vanilla, honey cake, and a slight note of marzipan. The one you find on pastries, not in the form of baker’s marzipan. A slight nutty scent as well, almonds in particular. All in all a very sweet nose, but not like supermarket pastries. There’s an artisanal touch to this.
Palate-wise, a little bit of fruit, but again overall sweet notes, with a drier touch as the dram develops itself on your tongue. A subtle finish adds a little bit of bitterness to the dram, before it evaporates in your mouth.
In hindsight, I should not have gone for a dessert that was so outspoken, flavour-wise. The chocolate London Fog cake with Earl Grey butter cream trifle was absolutely delicious, but did not pair very well with this limited edition Glenmorangie expression. A second tasting (the day after), this time without desserts, brought the character of “A Tale of Cake” to the foreground, still rather shy, not completely extravert like the usual whiskies I tend to drink, but very much present. My advice for this expression is to pair it with delicate desserts as well. A light honey cake, a tropical fruit sorbet, or even a light cheese cake.
Obviously, you can also try out one of the recipes (desserts and cocktails) from the Glenmorangie website. I’m linking a recipe for A Tale of Cake Old Fahioned and a recipe for the London Fog and Earl Grey Buttercream cake.
Happy baking, happy shaking!
