This month’s recipe was a special request from a reader who used to buy the cake for her husband’s birthday. Petra Graber writes: “This was The Good Food Co. twist on a ‘mud’ cake. I had a terrible habit of using coffee or liquor to pep up chocolate recipes — this one has both!”
Chocolate Bourbon /Rum Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces unsweetened OR extra dark chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup strong coffee
½ cup bourbon OR dark rum
½ cup buttermilk OR sour cream
3 eggs + 1 yolk
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
NOTE: the cake can be frozen successfully before icing, and the recipe works well for cupcakes or split into two 9” round pans and filled and iced with lightly-sweetened whipped cream — try adding some fresh raspberries or strawberries and decorating the sides with chopped dark chocolate.
Chocolate Ganache
8 ounces (226 g) dark chocolate (not extra dark), finely chopped
1 cup 35% cream, heated
Ganache leftovers will keep in the fridge for at least 1 month — scoop out what you need and heat on low to bring back to drizzling consistency.
- Grease a bundt OR angel food pan and dust with cocoa;
- Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside;
- Melt chocolate and butter together on medium in microwaveable bowl or in saucepan on medium-low heat;
- Stir in coffee, liquor, and buttermilk and set aside;
- With electric mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla until smooth;
- Add ¹⁄3 of flour mixture and blend;
- Add ½ melted chocolate mixture and blend;
- Alternate beating in flour and chocolate mixtures, scraping as needed, until smooth;
- Turn batter into prepared pan and bake at 325 F for approximately 50 minutes, or until skewer inserted in cake comes out clean — do not overbake!
- Cool and turn out onto platter;
- Dust with cocoa or cover with ganache (below).
- Stir hot cream into chopped chocolate until smooth;
- Spoon over cake.