Even though I now live in SoCal and the ocean is a much more reasonable 20 minutes away, I still try to stop by the beach whenever I get a chance to just sit and watch the waves roll by. Even though I am a huge fan of the ocean, I'm not such a big fan of being IN the ocean.
I've seen Jaws...I'm never getting in that water.
If I could ever get up the courage to go in the water, however, I think I would learn how to surf. I find it fascinating, these guys and gals out there on their boards, waiting for the perfect wave. I am awed by the grace and athleticism it takes to achieve the perfect balance of board to water.
Which brings us to the topic of today's adventure: celebrating Harvey Wallbanger Day.
Who?
Actually....it's not just a who, it's a what. Harvey Wallbanger is a drink, made popular in the 1970s, but supposedly created back in the early '50s. According to legend, the drink was created by a bartender named Donato "Duke" Antone for a regular named Tom Harvey, allegedly a surfer from Manhattan Beach. As the story goes, after a night of Duke pouring several glasses of screwdrivers he enhanced with Galliano (an Italian liqueur) - Tom tried to leave the bar and apparently kept walking into everything - including the wall. The nickname stuck to both Tom and the drink, and a liquid legacy was created. Now this is just one of a couple different versions I found of the story, and sadly there is no real proof that any of these incidents actually occurred or that Duke even created the drink. But whatever. Sometimes the best legends are the ones created from bits of reality, fuzzy memories, and just the slightest hint of alcohol.
However the real beverage came about, since the legend stems from the LA area, I decided that it was a day worth celebrating. Somehow. The challenge for me was how to enjoy a Harvey Wallbanger minus the bartender. Back in my drinkin' days I probably would have just walked into the nearest watering hole (or two) and ordered a Harvey Wallbanger; using this as a test of the bartender's knowledge of rarely ordered drinks from the 70s. But not today. Today I needed a way to celebrate Duke's creation in a non-liquid manner. So I did a little research and came up with the next best, closest, thing....I found a recipe for the Harvey Wallbanger cake.
It's amazing what you can find on the internet.
Now, the recipe still calls for Galliano and Vodka - like the drink - but after making the cake and glaze, I conducted my own non-scientific study and I was able to blow a 0.0 after one cupcake, light glaze.
 |
| What, doesn't everyone have their own personal alcohol detector? |
Who says you can't have your cake and drink it too?
Harvey Wallbanger Cake-
Cake -
12 1/4 ounces sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
12 3/4 ounces All-Purpose Flour
1 1/8 ounces cornstarch
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 ounces orange juice
2 ounces Galliano
2 ounces vodka
1 tablespoon orange zest - optional
Glaze-
4 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1-3 tablespoon orange juice (3 if not using the alcohol in the glaze)
1 tablespoon Galliano and 1 teaspoon vodka (lightly warmed in a saucepan)
Directions-
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-cup Bundt® pan or line a 12-cup muffin tin with liner papers.
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, butter and salt (I used a hand mixer with regular beaters). Once well mixed, blend in the oil, then the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder.
In a measuring cup, stir together the orange juice, Galliano, vodka, and orange zest (if using - I chose to not).
Going back to the mixing bowl, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then add half of the orange juice mixture and blend well. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture - beat well - then the remaining liquid mixture. Scrape down the bowl if needed, then add in the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. Blend everything for an additional 60 seconds on low. Batter should be thick, but fluffy.
Pour the batter into a bundt pan or use a ladle to pour into the cupcake liners. Bake for 40-50 minutes - or until a toothpick comes out clean (don't over bake or the cake may dry out).
While the cake bakes, prepare the glaze. If choosing to make the glaze non-alcoholic, whisk the sugar and orange juice together well. If you want to use the alcohol, but make it less potent, warm it lightly in a saucepan (giving some of the alcohol the chance to burn off), then whisk in with the sugar and orange juice. If you choose to have a full on boozy cupcake, don't warm the vodka or Galliano, just whisk everything together*.
When the cakes are done, remove from the oven and brush with the glaze
...and enjoy!
Cheers!
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour with much thanks. You can find the original HERE
