MAIDA HEATTER'S 86-PROOF CHOCOLATE CAKE

Maida Heatter's 86-Proof Chocolate Cake image

Chocolate lovers will enjoy this festive, spirited cake from Maida Heatter, the cookbook author and pastry chef. Rich with chocolate, coffee and bourbon (a full half cup!), it makes for a decadent dessert that's perfect for any grown-up celebration or holiday party. (This batter is very liquid, so Ms. Heatter calls for dusting the pan with fine bread crumbs. This guards against sticking better than flour, and we promise you won't notice them in the finished cake. If you don't have bread crumbs, you can use flour; just be generous and meticulous.)

Provided by Moira Hodgson

Time 50m

Yield 12 servings

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

1/2 cup (approximately) fine dry bread crumbs
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup instant espresso powder
Boiling water
Cold water
1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
Additional bourbon (optional)
Confectioner's sugar (optional)

Steps:

Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and dust the inside of a 9-inch bundt pan (called a minibundt pan), or any other fancy tube pan with a 10-cup capacity, with fine dry breadcrumbs. Invert the pan over a piece of paper and tap lightly to shake out excess crumbs. Set aside.
Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover and cook only until melted; then remove the top of the double boiler and set it aside, uncovered, to cool slightly. (You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, just keep a close eye on it.)
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
In a two-cup measuring cup dissolve the coffee in a little boiling water. Add cold water to the 1 1/2 cup line. Add the bourbon. Set aside.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the chocolate and beat until smooth.
Then, on low speed, alternately add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions with the liquids in two additions, adding the liquids very gradually to avoid splashing and scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Be sure to beat until smooth after each addition, especially after the last. It will be a thin mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan a bit briskly, first in one direction, then in the other, to level the top. In a minibundt pan the batter will almost reach the top of the pan, but it will not run over and you will have a beautifully high cake.
Bake for one hour and 10 to 15 minutes. Test by inserting a cake tester in the middle of the cake and bake only until the tester comes out clean and dry.
Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then cover with a rack and invert. Remove the pan, sprinkle the cake with a little optional bourbon, and leave the cake upside down on a rack to cool. Before serving, if you wish, sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar through a fine strainer.