Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for greasing pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting pan
- 5 ounces high quality, unsweetened dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup instant espresso (can use instant coffee)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup bourbon
whiskey (can use 1/2 cup), more for sprinkling
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), for sprinkling
Method
1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a large bundt
pan (10 cup capacity), or two 8- or 9-inch
loaf pans. Melt chocolate in a microwave oven or in a double boiler
over simmering water. Let cool.
2 Put instant espresso and cocoa powder in a 2-cup (or larger)
glass measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to come up to the 1 cup
measuring line. Mix until powders dissolve. Stir in whiskey and salt;
let cool.
3 Beat softened butter until fluffy (2-3 minutes on high). Add
sugar and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating
well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda
and melted chocolate, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
4 With the mixer on the lowest speed, beat in a third of the
whiskey espresso cocoa mixture. When liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup
flour. Repeat additions, ending with whiskey mixture. Scrape batter into
prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into
center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes for Bundt pan
(loaf pans will take less time, start checking them after 55 minutes).
5 Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 15 minutes and
sprinkle warm cake with more whiskey. Let cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar
through a mesh sieve over the cake before serving.
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