Unbridled Spirit – A Taste of the West
We were privileged to be featured recently in Canadian Cowboy Country magazine!
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It’s becoming increasingly prevalent to consider source (local) and company (niche) in our world. In a sense, our western culture has perhaps always leaned more towards a high standard of craftsmanship, than an overload of cheap trappings. We cherish one well-made bit crafted from a local artisan, over 10 made overseas. A pair of chaps so beautifully constructed they must be passed on from mother to daughter. And so on.
I’ve as much as possible refined and practiced the same criteria in my kitchen and lifestyle. I’d rather have less, and enjoy quality than stack up on bulk buys of ridiculously processed foods.
All part of why I never grow tired of this friend, and her consistently positive mind and joy of life.
It took baker Kamla McGonigal of Calgary, Alberta, four years to perfect her recipe. Determination, baby, that’s what it took. The fourth generation Calgary native wanted to use whisky, locally distilled at Highwood Distiller’s, from grain at nearby farms as one of the main ingredients in her delectable cakes. Finally after countless hours over an oven, McGonigal developed one of the best tasting and most unique baked-goods available to those with discerning palates – the Alberta Whisky Cake.
Using only the finest locally-sourced ingredients, Alberta Whisky Cakes offer a seductive flavor. You will be able to smell it’s sweet, distinct goodness before you will ever taste it, but as whisky advocates know – this is a desirable trait.
So, as I’m working through my Christmas list of gift-giving and thank-you’s – both personal and corporate, Alberta Whisky Cakes in their delightful western-styled packaging are a top pick. The beautiful bundts are simple to order, and because of the dense, whisky intinction, keep well through shipping and into the Christmas season.
Find Alberta Whisky Cake on Facebook or, here.
Originally published on Routes Media
On June 20 2013, massive floods devastated many parts of southern Alberta. Here are a few quick follow-ups to some a couple of our market vendors who were affected and how they couldn’t have done it all without the support of you, the loyal customer.
Alberta Whisky Cakes
The massive flood of 2013 ripped through High River destroyed the bakery that made our cakes. The entire inventory, supplies, equipment and the entire building were annihilated. Our whisky producer in High River, Highwood Distillers, was also closed for a few months.
Unexpectedly, I received an enormous number of adamant demands from many past and potential AWC consumers to ‘get those cakes back!’ These much-appreciated requests provided the emotional energy, clarity and courage I needed to pick up and start over again.
AWC stopped producing cakes on June 20, but the behind the scenes action didn’t stop. We co-hosted a very successful contest with Western Horse Review for the next featured artist, made a number of changes to the labels, seals, delivery containers and got some processes worked out to ensure cake quality consistently remains at the very highest.
The baker equipped and restocked her initial Calgary in-home commercial bakery. We worked out details with new retailers and, since November, the cakes are available at Calgary Co-op stores in Calgary, High River, Airdrie and Strathmore.
Exactly four months after the flood closed AWC, we picked up 24 test cakes from the interim bakery. Looks like we’re back in the saddle.
As I look back at 2013, we were completely closed for a third of the year, yet our annual sales were almost exactly 50 per cent more than in 2012.
Thank you to our fellow Albertans for their unwavering and loyal support. -Kamla McGonigal, albertawhiskycake.com.
Thank you to everyone who took part in this fun contest – the nominators, artists, voters & Western Horse Review.
I had a lot of fun with this!
Originally Posted on Western Horse Review
A few weeks ago we announced the Art, Whisky & Cake Contest. It was your chance to nominate an up-and-coming artist as Alberta Whisky Cake’s newest Unbridled Spirit selection. It’s been fun working with the Whisky Baker, Kamla McGonigal, and her company’s mission of promoting the western culture, especially in light of the recent flooding devastation in Alberta. The theme fits beautifully with the “unfolding the real West” mission statement of Western Horse Review, and besides, who could resist partnering with such an enthusiastic entrepreneur as Kam.
Check back here for the original post, but the gist of the contest is that each Alberta Whisky Cake comes with an exclusive AWC Unbridled Spirits certificate, which can be presented directly to a select list of AWC artists to receive $35 off of your purchase price, on an individual piece of art valued at $100 or more. Viewers were charged with nominating their favorite artists to be the next Unbridled Spirit. These artists are folks who are involved heavily in the arts, and have not yet become renowned or rewarded for their exceptional dedication to their creative work.
Kam was charged with choosing three finalists, and via this post and Facebook, you get to determine one final Unbridled Spirit winner.
When she wasn’t testing out new recipes in her kitchen, Kam poured over all the nominations and began to make her choices. I could tell she was having a difficult time; given all the amazing talent that had been dished up, choosing three finalists was going to be difficult.
Sometime during the process she wondered in an e-mail to me. . . ” if I should just go with using ALL of these (love them all!)”
No, Kam, you have to choose three. Those are the rules.
So, she did. She picked three artists, and I’m going to show you a piece of each of their work here. In the comment section, go ahead and vote on your favorite. The bonus: all original nominations notes and all votes will go into a hat and we’ll draw a winner for an Alberta Whisky Cake.
I suppose I can’t really vote, but if I could, I would be all over this for that reason alone.
Meet the finalists:
Take Your Eight and Shove It by Karen Coe.
Karen Coe is a Lethbridge, Alberta artist who recently received the distinction of having two of her pieces juried into the prestigious Calgary Stampede Art Auction.
Ranch Branding by Julia Palmer.
Julia Palmer is a photographer and rancher who lives in southern Alberta. Her subject matter is primarily cattle, cowboys and the changing seasons.
Between Classes by Heather Gessell.
Heather Gessell is a fine artist from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with a focus on pets, horses and vintage cars.
There you have it, three talented western artists.
Visit Western Horse Review to vote for your favorite and be entered to win an Alberta Whisky Cake!
Originally Posted on Ginger and Nutmeg
Kamla McGonigal still has her notes from ten years ago when she first envisioned a uniquely Albertan dessert, one that visitors would want to take home and share with others. Her desire was to create a specialty food item like smoked salmon (BC) and maple syrup (Quebec & Ontario) that one immediately associated with the region.
Kamla is a mother, emergency nurse and a beginner drummer living in southern Alberta. There really was no reason to embark on this project in 2003. Her life was busy enough, yet she was fuelled, by this bubbling passion, to create a quality cake. With no family recipe to fall back on, she started from scratch – like all the best cakes.
Over a period of four years, Kamla collaborated with some partners on the creation. It needed to be an alcohol-based cake, like a fruitcake, to ensure there would be a long shelf life. The recipe ingredients should be as local as possible and Canadian where practical. The process of recipe development, testing notes and corralling input from family and friends as tasters, would culminate on Wednesday evenings with a meeting to compare their findings.
In 2008, Kamla had a tough choice to make, the recipe was close to perfection, but her partners were unable to continue with the project. Drop it or move forward? Kamla describes herself as focused, disciplined, passionate and hard working.
She moved forward.
April 2010, Alberta Whisky Cake (AWC), was officially launched with this mission: ‘to produce a world-class product that every Albertan would be proud to give or receive’.
Alberta Whisky Cakes are made with fresh ingredients from a list of quality suppliers:
1. Highwood Distillers – rye whisky (High River, Alberta)
2. High quality chocolate
3. Canadian maple syrup and walnuts
4. Dairy butter and 100% Canadian canola oil (Canola Harvest)
5. Flour – milled in southern Alberta (Ellison Milling Company)
6. Packaging – a ‘hatbox’ design made using recycled paper and eco-friendly black dye (X-treme Packaging)
Since Kamla launched her company, she has managed to attract the attention of local food media – they always know a good thing when they taste one! Some of the proceeds from AWC are directed to supporting at-risk youth programs and emerging local artists. Artist cards featuring their work and contact information are included in every cake package.
The June 2013 flood was devastating for so many in southern Alberta including Alberta Whisky Cake. The bakery that AWC uses Katie’s Cakery Bakery located in High River was destroyed. At the time of writing, the best-case scenario for the bakery’s resumption of operations was still 4-6 weeks away. The whisky supplier, Highwood Distillers hopes to re-open in October although the date is uncertain, by mid-August they had already logged 30,000 hours of clean-up work. In addition, AWC lost all of its inventory, packaging and even the bundt baking pans.
The flood waters have receded, and the hard work of rebuilding is underway, more than ever Kamla believes in her company’s celebration of Alberta’s unique values: solid, bold, rich, authentic and spirited.
The delicious maple (The Malted Maple) and chocolate (The Whisky Runner) cakes will be available soon enough. And there may even be new flavours in the future too, such as cocktail inspired Whisky Lime (like a whisky sour) and White Lightening (secret spices – with an aroma to drive you crazy).
To order your own Alberta Whisky Cake or just send Kamla a note click here.
