Chocolate Mocha Cake with Irish Whiskey Recipe

Good Tempered Food | Miramax, 2004

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

LC Proper Provenance Note

So maybe the provenance of this recipe isn’t Irish per se. But a splash of Irish whiskey makes almost anything quite Irish in spirit, don’t you agree?

Chocolate Mocha Cake with Irish Whiskey Recipe

Hands-On Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour, not including cooling | Makes one 8-inch cake

Want it? Click it.

Ingredients

For the cake
6 ounces semisweet chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
4 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee, preferably a mocha or mocha java
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
7 tablespoons raw sugar, preferably vanilla flavored
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
3 eggs, preferably organic, separated
1/2 cup freshly ground blanched almonds (about 21/2 ounces)
A few drops natural bitter almond extract
6 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for the pan
For the frosting
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Make the cake
1. Preheat the 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 whites, 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 to 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
7. Melt the chocolate and whiskey in the top of the double boiler until satiny smooth.
8. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter, a tablespoon at a time. Stand the bowl over iced water and continue to beat until combined but not as light and fluffy as buttercream. (If the butter and chocolate separate, add a little cream and whisk until the mixture comes together.) Spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to dribble down the sides.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Jack Daniel’s Cake with Buttered Whiskey Glaze from Chick in the Kitchen
Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes from Annie's Eats
Flourless Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake from Leite's Culinaria
Bittersweet Chocolate-Rum Icebox Cake from Leite's Culinaria