Chocolate Mocha Cake with Irish Whiskey

by Tamasin Day-Lewis
from Good Tempered Food
(Miramax, 2004)
Makes one 8-inch cake

A delicious birthday cake, which needs little more than a perfectly made vanilla ice cream with fresh Madagascan vanilla beans.—Tamasin Day-Lewis

convert Ingredients
For the cake
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
4 tablespoons freshly made strong mocha coffee
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
7 tablespoons raw vanilla-flavored sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft enough to cream
3 organic eggs, separated
1/2 cup freshly ground blanched almonds
A few drops natural bitter-almond extract
6 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted

For the frosting
2 ounces best bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
1/4 cup unsalted butter

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Method
Make the cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour an 8-inch cake pan.

2. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler with the coffee and whiskey. Remove the top pan and allow them to cool.

3. Cream together all but a tablespoon of the sugar with the butter until it is pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

4. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peak stage, then add the last tablespoon of sugar and beat to firm peaks.

5. Blend the chocolate mixture into the creamed butter and sugar with a rubber spatula, then stir in the ground almonds and bitter almond extract. Fold in a spoonful of the egg white, followed by a spoonful of flour, and continue until it’s all blended in.

6. Scrape the mixture into the cake pan and bake it in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes. A skewer should come out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife round the edge of the pan and turn the cake out on to a rack.

Make the frosting
1. Melt the chocolate and whiskey in the top of the double boiler until satiny smooth.

2. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Stand the bowl over iced water and continue to beat, otherwise the butter and the chocolate will separate. You can always add a little cream if this happens — whisk and the mixture will cohere. Spread the icing over the cake, leaving a rough finish.

Recipe © 2004 Tamasin Day-Lewis. All rights reserved.
© 2009 Leite’s Culinaria, Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of use.