Chocolate Bourbon Cake
This recipe is for a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. (Alternatively, you can use 2 round cake pans (9-inch diameter) and make a 2-tier layer cake. Fill it with this maple mascarpone frosting or a buttercream filling of your choice. The layers take less time to bake than the Bundt cake does. Start checking them at about 30 minutes.)
Servings: 12
Calories (Estimated): 536kcal
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.
Recipe notes:
*I use Hershey's natural unsweetened.
**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.
