I Heart My Friends: Easy Bourbon Chocolate Cake by A Thought For Food (Guest Post) |
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Jul
15
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Hi. Remember me? It’s okay, I don’t really either – that’s how busy I’ve been lately. What with moving house, running here and there reviewing restaurants, enjoying events, writing for a gazillion publications and really eating far too much food, it’s no surprise my lovely little blog has suffered as a consequence. This would mean the death of it, were it not for the fact that I have amazing friends across the globe who are not only wonderful writers, photographers and recipe creators, but also incredible people who have kindly offered to write me a guest post whilst I’m trying to get myself back together. Lucky me, right?
The first guest post ever is by none other than my incredibly talented friend and fellow Nudie Foodie, Brian from A Thought For Food. Brian not only regularly makes me drool on my keyboard, he also took me into his home recently when I was travelling, despite never having met before, which is completely indicative of his personality. He is kind, warm, loving, immense amounts of fun and one of the most genuinely nice people I have ever had the pleasure to spend time with. But enough of my gushing, here’s Brian delicious cake which I will definitely be attempting as soon as I make it back into my kitchen! Thank you Brian!
Given the nature of what we do, it’s safe to say that food bloggers like to eat. Of course that doesn’t mean that we’re all 800 pounds. We just enjoy leisurely, home-cooked meals and appreciate the way food can bring people together. But there’s the other side of food blogging that is sometimes neglected on our sites (though, for some writers, this is not the case): booze.
Spend an extended period of time with us on Twitter and you’ll soon learn just how much we love and respect good wine, beer and assorted other spirits. We chat about mixing up our favorite cocktails and brag about local breweries. There are discussions about making wine at home and infusing vodkas with assorted herbs and we talk about the best way to pair all of these concoctions with food.
Pairing a drink with food is a feat in itself, but cooking with it is equally challenging. I’ve added beautifully aged rum, loaded with notes of caramel and clove, that I was certain would shine through to the batch of cookies I was baking. Alas, they had none of those flavors and I was left with just my usual batch of cookies (still delicious… but where were the booze?!?!).
Bourbon, on the other hand, has the staying power to topple other ingredients. And, let me say, that bourbon and chocolate is a rich pairing. A single bite of this cake is bursting with booze, but the sweetness of the chocolate mellows it just enough to make you go back for another bite… and another… and another.
It’s also the perfect cake if you are looking to play around with some toppings. Try adding some caramel ice cream or maple whipped cream (or both… because when you go so far as to have one, you might as well have the other).
And before I leave you all with the recipe, I would like to thank Jackie for asking me to do this guest post for her site. I had the pleasure of having Jackie stay with us when she came to Boston earlier this year. She is just as lovely, spontaneous, and thoughtful as she comes across on I Am A Feeder.
Enjoy!
EASY BOURBON CHOCOLATE CAKE Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
5 tbsps bourbon
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extractMethod
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
2. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Melt the chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a double boiler. Once it has melted, stir in the bourbon. Immediately remove from heat and let cool while you do the next two steps.
3. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.
5. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine.
7. Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Test doneness by placing a toothpick in the center. Once it comes out clean, it is done.
8. Let cool. Serve as is (there’s plenty of flavor in this cake), with ice cream and/or whipped cream.
Huge thanks again to Brian for this delicious cake and guest post! Isn’t he wonderful? If you haven’t yet you have to go and check out his blog A Thought For Food and follow him on Twitter. Make him part of your weekly reading!
We’ll be back again soon with more amazing guest posts and eventually I’ll even pull something together. Miracle, right? Until then, peace and love.
Jax x
July 15th, 2011 at 9:03 am
[…] Jackie asked me to write a post for her blog, there was no hesitation whatsoever (anytime darling!). I know she’s been quite busy […]
July 15th, 2011 at 9:10 am
Love the chocolate and bourbon pairing. Divine.
July 15th, 2011 at 11:18 am
What a great cake, especially for a summer party!
July 15th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
what a great use of bourbon! that chocolate cake looks so moist and delicious, I would absolutely love a slice right now with my coffee!
Thanks for having Brian here today, he is the best! I am just so sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet when you were here this year.
July 15th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
This…is to die for! Brian, you did an amazing job with this cake and the bourbon addition! YUM! Great guest post!
July 15th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Had to come visit Jackie a view your post, Brian. This cake is absolutely worth baking. i am in love with its texture. Thanks for the recipe.
July 15th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Lucky you, indeed! Love how simple this recipe is. And with chocolate and bourbon, how can you go wrong?
July 15th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Gosh, this does look easy! I have some bourbon on hand as well. Perhaps I’ll try this over the weekend.
July 16th, 2011 at 12:14 am
Holy yum yesssss, this cake looks like a dream come true! Booze in any dessert gets my attention immediately!
I am so glad to have come by your blog, its reallyreally awesome! Love the style of it lots, really individual and will be visiting regularly from now on :)
July 16th, 2011 at 1:49 am
Simple and so delicious. Can’t wait ot make. Love the one layer
July 16th, 2011 at 3:50 am
Yummm….I wish I was more eloquent – but….YUM!
July 16th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Two of my favorite people and one delicious cake. Yes, this is just what I needed. Thank you for sharing with me today. Visiting your blog is an inspiring way to start my weekend. I hope you have a blessed time with family and friends.
July 16th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
This looks like a fabulous cake! I can imagine that pairing bourbon with chocolate would be just right. I once made a peach crumble pie and put a little whisky with the peaches, and it was just lovely. Can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks for sharing :)
July 16th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
I love simple. All I’d want is a little fruit…believe it or not I don’t care for icing at all! Gorgeous, Brian, nice to meet you, Jackie!
July 17th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Love this cake. And bourbon and chocolate go together as well as the two fo you. Excellent pairing and guest post!
July 17th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Great cake for summertime! Couldn’t be easier.
July 19th, 2011 at 12:55 am
I was just at Brian’s site, and I have to repeat: I can’t think of a better cake for you, Jax! Chocolate and bourbon – it’s sweet, it’s saucy, it’s gorgeous!
July 19th, 2011 at 1:40 am
Hope you’re well, Jackie!! I’ve been wondering why you haven’t posted in a while!
I have a bottle of vodka to use up. Will that work instead of bourbon?
July 21st, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Thanks Brian for leading me to this cute site and for the recipe as well. I would love to try this in a brownie pan with some icing, wonder how the bourbon would do there? Looking for a great bourbon chicken recipe, maybe its in your collection?
August 21st, 2012 at 6:44 pm
This cake is amazing! Just wondering what the bake time would be if I were to double it and put it in a 9 by 13 pan or would this not work at all?
December 17th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
This cake was delicious, but I had to keep it in the oven 32 minutes — at 25, the middle was still extremely liquidy. I think 30 might have done the job, too, because the center was perfect but the edges were a little dry. Is there anything I could do to bake it more evenly?