This chocolate Bourbon cake is wonderful – moist and delicious and full of Bourbon and chocolate flavor. The preparation is wonderful too, the batter is quickly whisked together by hand, no messy mixer required. Best of all, the batter is liquid so you can easily pour it.
About the recipe:
I wish all of you a smashingly happy and healthy new year! It's important to start it off properly, with cake and booze. And chocolate. That's why I made this delicious cake from a Gourmet recipe that I found on epicurious.com.
My contribution to this recipe is the glaze. I made it with bittersweet and milk chocolate, Bourbon, butter, cream, vanilla extract, espresso powder and a pinch of salt.
NOTE: Please note that I took the above photo of the cake right after I poured on the glaze. The glaze will not actually stay liquid. It will firm up into a ganache-like consistency that you can easily cut through but that will stay put on the cake.
Cake batter ingredients:
Glaze ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
- You will notice that I substituted water and instant espresso powder for the coffee that the cake recipe calls for. I did that because I found it easier than going through the trouble of brewing fresh coffee. But you can use either one.
- instant espresso powder is brewed espresso that has been dehydrated. You cannot substitute ground espresso for it. That's because ground espresso is simply ground roasted coffee beans and, unlike instant espresso powder, those will not dissolve.
- bittersweet and milk chocolate – Please be sure to use baking chocolate bars and not chocolate chips or chocolate morsels for the glaze. Chocolate chips and morsels are often designed to keep their shape when heated and therefore have stabilizers in them. Because of that they don't melt as well as chopped bar chocolate.
Make it a Bundt cake or a layer cake:
You have two options for this cake:
- Bake it in a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.
- Make it a layer cake. (The recipe will make two 9-inch round layers.)
If you make the Bundt cake, I recommend you serve it with raspberry jam and/or whipped cream.
If you go for the layer option, I recommend this maple mascarpone frosting for the cake, which is pictured below. (You can also turn the frosting into an espresso mascarpone frosting, which works great on this cake as well.)
Whichever option you choose, this cake makes a wonderful afternoon treat but works equally well as a fancy birthday cake.
How to freeze this cake:
Both the maple mascarpone frosted layer cake version and the glazed Bundt cake version of this cake freeze very well. Here are the details on how to do it:
| Cake version: | How to freeze: | How long to thaw: |
|---|---|---|
| Frosted layer cake | Transfer the fully frosted cake into a freezer bag and freeze. | 2 hours at room temperature |
| Glazed Bundt cake | Transfer the glazed cake into a freezer bag and freeze. | 2 hours at room temperature |
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how you liked it in the comments below! Thank you!
Full Recipe
Chocolate Bourbon Cake
Equipment:
- measuring cups and spoons
- knife and cutting board
- 12-cup Bundt cake pan OR two 9-inch round cake pans
- small sieve for dusting the pan(s)
- large saucepan
- whisk
- mixing bowls
- rubber spatula
- small saucepan
- wooden spoon
- mixing bowl
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,* plus 3 tablespoons for dusting the baking pan
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ cup Bourbon
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- raspberry jam to spread on the individual slices, optional
- whipped cream, optional
For the glaze:
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons Bourbon
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate,** finely chopped
- 4 ounces milk chocolate,** finely chopped
Instructions:
For the cake:
- Head on over to Epicurious for instructions. (Use the teaspoon of instant espresso powder and the 1 ½ cups of water instead of coffee).
For the glaze:
- Add cream, butter, espresso powder, vanilla and salt to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until you have a uniform consistency.½ cup heavy cream, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of salt
- Take off the heat and add the Bourbon.2 tablespoons Bourbon
- Pour the hot cream mix over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.4 ounces bittersweet chocolate,** finely chopped, 4 ounces milk chocolate,** finely chopped
- Stir together until everything is well combined and no chocolate clumps remain. (You may need to heat the mixture over a pot of hot water to get rid of the last pieces of chocolate.)
- Pour over the cake and let set.
- Serve with whipped cream and/or raspberry jam.
Notes:
More cake recipes:
- Chai Spice Bundt Cake with Rum Raisins1 Hours
- Lemon Cardamom Cake1 Hours 15 Minutes
- Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Rosemary Caramel7 Hours 50 Minutes
- Chocolate Mousse Frosting for Cupcakes8 Hours 25 Minutes
Terry says
For the glaze, why not add the bourbon with all the other ingredients of the glaze and bring to a boil, will not that cook the alcohol out of it?
Nicole B. says
Hi Terry,
That actually wouldn't cook the alcohol out of it either. According to this article by the Food Network it takes about 3 hours of cooking to fully remove alcohol from food: https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/cooking-wine-does-alcohol-burn-off.
Gracieannie says
This cake is fabulous and everyone loved it!!! I served it with a dollop of barely sweetened whipped cream. The whiskey glaze really takes it over the top! Thanks for a great recipe.
Nicole B. says
That's wonderful to hear, Gracieannie!! Thanks so much for making the recipe and for coming back and leaving such great feedback, I really appreciate that!
Gracieannie says
Hi Nicole, I can't wait to make this cake for company next week! I have a question. For the glaze, could I sub 8oz of semi-sweet chocolate for the 4oz each of both bittersweet and milk chocolate? Thanks!
Nicole B. says
Hi Gracieannie,
Yes, that will be fine. I just tested the glaze with a semi-sweet baking chocolate bar (56 percent cacao content) and it worked fine.
Gracieannie says
Thanks! Can't wait to make it!
Lori says
I want to make this with gluten free flour. Has anyone ever tried that?
Shelley says
I am curious if you tried it with GF flour? If so, which brand did you use? I want to make this next week for a friend. Thank you!
Nicole B. says
Hi Shelley,
I'm sorry but I have not tried this cake with gluten-free flour so unfortunately I don't have any recommendations.
lexi says
The recipe suggests that there are only two options when baking this cake - does the batter not work well as cupcakes?
Nicole B. says
Hi Lexi,
After I saw your question I went ahead and tested the recipe in cupcake pans. It worked very well, the cupcakes have a fluffy texture and are nicely domed.
The full recipe makes about 36 cupcakes. I used about 3 tablespoons of batter per cupcake well (lined with cupcake liners) and baked them for 20 minutes.
All the best,
nicole
Jody Zanton says
Hi!
I’d like to make mini Bundt cakes. How many will I get with this recipe?
Thanks!!
Nicole B. says
Hi Jody!
It will depend a bit on the size of the individual cavities of the mini Bundt cake pan because different shapes have slightly different volumes.
But, this recipe makes 8 cups of batter, so assuming that you use about 1/3 cup of batter per mini Bundt cake, you should get about 24 mini Bundt cakes.
Re says
Superb cake! I poured an extra shot of bourbon over the cake when it came out of the oven. Also found the glaze was a lot; I only poured half over the cake (but I think the other half will be great for dipping fruit!). Easy to make, moist, rich, and delicious! Thank you!
Nicole B. says
That's wonderful to hear, Re! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving such great feedback, it's much appreciated. :)
Rebecca says
Great flavor and very dense, which we loved! The icing was great. (I added extra espresso & bourbon) Overall an easy recipe! I felt mine was a little dry. I think I will add a glaze next time as soon as I bring the cake out of the oven!
Nicole B. says
Lovely to hear that, Rebecca! Can never go wrong with extra espresso and bourbon, can you? :)
Carletta Gunby says
Will this cake freeze well? Considering making for my uncle and shipping it to him for father's day.
Nicole B. says
Hi Carletta, that's a very nice idea for a father's day gift! I have frozen the layer cake version of this cake and it did freeze very well. I transferred the cake (fully frosted with the maple mascarpone frosting) into a freezer bag and put it in the freezer for about 2 weeks. It took about 2 hours to thaw at room temperature and tasted great. I have not yet tried to freeze the glazed bundt cake version.
UPDATE: After you posed the question I made the bundt cake version of this cake again, glazed it and froze it. I thawed it this morning (it took about 2 hours on the kitchen counter) and it turned out great. So, yes, both versions of this cake freeze well. :)
Natalia says
Hello!
I am making this cake today- the two layered version. I was wondering if I could use raspberry as a filling along with the maple Mascarpone cream and the glaze....a layer of each. Do you think it would be too much? or should I stick with either the Raspberry jelly or the Cream? The glaze sounds so delicious I cannot afford to leave it out hahahah
Thank you!!
Nicole B. says
That’s an interesting idea, Natalia! I haven’t made the cake with both fillings but I can imagine it would be quite good! If you end up making it with both, I'd love to know how you liked it. All the best! nicole :)
Katie says
Do you think the alcohol in the glaze cooks out? If not, What’s a good alternative for kids or people that can’t drink alcohol?
Nicole B. says
Hi Katie,
The alcohol in the glaze will not cook off entirely, so what I would suggest is to simple leave the Bourbon out of the glaze and make it just with the remaining ingredients. It will taste purely chocolately that way and will still work great as a glaze.
Annelle Williams says
This cake is absolutely delicious--moist and wonderful
Nicole B. says
Thank you SO much for the lovely comment, Annelle, I really appreciate it. So glad you liked the cake! :)
Larissa says
This sounds amazing!
Nicole: does the glaze stay liquid on the cake?
Thanks for sharing this recipe, will try it asap! :)
Nicole B. says
Hi Larissa! The glaze will not stay liquid but it won't harden into a shell either. It will have the consistency of a ganache, you will easily be able to cut through but it will stay in place. Let me know how you like it if you end up making it. :)
P.S.: Thanks for asking about that, I will add a note in the post to clarify. :)